Only 17, this Downey teen is developing a video game
Lily Nguyen is helping develop “Trouble Hunter Chronicles: The Stolen Creed,” a video game scheduled for release next spring. (Courtesy photo)
DOWNEY — Downey High School senior Lily Nguyen does all the normal stuff you’d expect of a 17-year-old: she does her schoolwork, eats, sleeps, exercises, and manages a little bit of social time too.
She also just happens to be one of the artists behind an upcoming video game.
It all started when Nguyen- like most others - suddenly found herself with not much to do.
“Because of current circumstances, I’ve had a lot of time on my hands,” said Nguyen. “I decided to channel into something, a creative endeavor.”
She joined Iskonsko Studio, the team currently behind the creation of upcoming point-and-click- adventure game “Trouble Hunter Chronicles: The Stolen Creed.”
Nguyen says that the team is global, with members of different ages and backgrounds contributing from throughout the world.
“One of the artists is in Ukraine, one of the coders is in Croatia. Someone’s right in Nevada,” said Nguyen. “It’s a really nice, diverse team.”
Nguyen is the youngest member in the group. While she says her teammates treat her just like a normal peer, there is a bit of added pressure being the youngest.
“I feel like I have to perform and prove myself,” said Nguyen. “Yeah, I’m 17, but that doesn’t matter. I’m still capable; I can still do this.”
Set in post-WWII France, players will – as the genre eludes – point-and-click their way through various character interactions and puzzles on their way to unveiling a scandalous plot.
“It’s an interactable game; think of it as a wallpaper essentially,” said Nguyen. “You can point and click to find out a little bit about their story. What’s common about point-and-click adventure games is they often blend into the puzzle genre. You can collect some items…and then you use it to interact with some characters that will trigger an event, and so on and so forth.”
“It’s really a game for all gamers; if you’re looking to relax, if someone is looking for crazy puzzles, this is a really universal game genre I think.”
Nguyen is responsible for many of the background settings of the game.
“I drew a little as a kid, but I never really took it that seriously,” said Nguyen. “It wasn’t until 7th or 8th grade where I said, ‘Okay, art is kind of fun, and I kind of want to do this.’ It wasn’t until maybe within the past year or so that I really committed that I want to do this as a living.”
“This game, Trouble Hunter Chronicles, is kind of my debut.”
Nguyen says that the game is currently slated for PC and Mac, however a mobile version of the game could also be in the works.
The game recently finished closed-Alpha, and is now looking towards a demo to be released in October.
“That’ll be the first serious free look at the game,” said Nguyen. “The final product will hopefully be released sometime early next year; we’re thinking March, February, April, somewhere around that time.”
Nguyen is excited to see the entire game come together in its entirety.
“When we put together the assets, usually I just do the backgrounds and animate a few frames if needed, and I send it off. Our character artist does the same. Our musician does the same. We don’t really get to see it together; all our parts are floating,” said Nguyen. “When we saw our Alpha and parts of the demo for the first time, seeing scenes play out, it’s like magic…when you see it in the game, it’s like, ‘Wow, it’s a world…’”
“Creating that world is just so satisfying.”
Game progress and Iskonsko Studio can be followed on Instagram and Twitter. Game info can also be found on Steam.