Ever wonder what would happen if indie metroidvania wunderkind Hollow Knight actually had better levels and brighter colours? Enter Constance, a German-made indie search action title where you play as the title character Constance who has to escape from the colourful world she created, all stemming from her declining mental health.

Constance is a painter, and her fighting style in the 2D realm she made are strikes from her paintbrush. She can slow items down with it, making seemingly-fast traps manageable to navigate through, air dash in a blob of paint, and possess a ton more traversal tools to explore the mess she created. The game gets pretty tough as you wade through its challenges. But should you succumb to death, you can either progress onward for a price (like part of your life gone) or just start back at the last checkpoint which could be a few minutes away, but at least you can backtrack to different areas.

It’s shaping up to be a promising metroidvania, so we talk to Berlin-based game company btf Games’ head of games Florian Köhne and character designer Sunita Sangare during Tokyo Game Show 2024 about the game.

KKP: There’s a lot of Hollow Knight influences in Constance. Are there other games and inspirations that influenced Constance?

Sunita: Celeste was one of its inspirations, yes. And some people told us Splatoon. That’s interesting because with the paint it makes sense. The painting mechanic and all that, that’s great.

Level design-wise, I’m not going to spoil too much, but there is also a possibility to find multiple areas and secrets. It’s not too linear, so in that aspect, it’s a real Metroidvania, right? And of course, the painting mechanic, that actually makes it feel really good.

KKP: Can you elaborate more on Constance’s major theme in its narrative? 

Sunita: Constance’s theme is mostly about mental health and creativity, and the fact of trying to fight the inner demons that you have. This is because she also falls into her inner world, and has to fight against her fears and also discover what she can unlock to feel better, get help, and how to fight that.

KKP: So the team itself, like the theme of the game: the mental health was it a conscious group effort to go forward with that theme?

Sunita: Well, actually it started with our director Sebastian, who is the director of the game. He brought on the idea, and also worked on the storyline, and the different arcs, as well as crafted it from a personal standpoint. But it has an overarching theme, and also synced with the team, that we all want to have a positive way of working in also the art industry. And that is kind of the thing that made it into the game.

Florian: I think that it’s something that a lot of creative people struggle with; to have their inner demons. And fighting with mental health issues so we try to bring this into the company to have a positive approach to how we want to work, don’t crunch, and stuff like that.

KKP: Is Constance’s mental health theme also a reflection of what’s going on in Germany’s game industry? Or is it in general? 

Florian: I mean, it’s a general issue. But in Germany, like with the last generation, I think it just becomes more prevalent. I mean, the mental health problems have probably been there for a long time, but now it becomes more visible. Or more like a topical thing.

People are getting more sensitive to it, so that is why you can now tackle such themes without prejudice and stuff like that. So I think that’s a good thing.

Constance is out in Q4 2025. That’s quite a wait, but you can play the demo and wishlist it right this instance.