Meet Morgen Stern and David Turpin | Co-Founders

We had the good fortune of connecting with Morgen Stern and David Turpin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Morgen Stern and David Turpin, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
We’ve always been moonlighting with our own creative projects and we felt it was time to pursue it independently. While David spent time making prototypes for games, Morgen made a variety of short films and wrote a bunch of original scripts. We came together to form Smol Games because we both bring a different skillset to the table, but we share similar sensibilities.

It’s been quite the journey to start a business, so it’s nice to have a partner in that. It took approximately 4.5 years of sweat equity to “get off the ground”, as we just received funding to go into production full time! We’ve had to make some significant adjustments to our personal lives to bring our indie startup to life, but we believe it’s worthwhile to create something we love. As it turns out, it helps to be mentally and physically healthy to live the startup life, and that means setting aside adequate time for self-care, even if that means you’re putting less money away each month.

Our belief in the value of creative persistence is what keeps us going. We believe in everyone’s inherent value to create – regardless of funding, experience, education, day job, skills, taste, or even talent. The world is chaotic, and the truth is you simply cannot predict when or how your project or business will “take off” (whatever that means), but you still can create and that will always be worthwhile.

In terms of the future of this business, we try to avoid looking too far out, as we’re still discovering ourselves and learning from our experiences. But it’s safe to say that we want our studio to stay small and nimble, with a steady stream of revenue that allows us to employ a few more core team members to carry the burden (and joys!) of running the company. At minimum, we hope we can bring some happiness into the lives of people who play our games!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Our first title, Hyde’s Haunt & Seek, is technically a multiplayer horror game, but sets itself apart in a myriad of ways. Instead of one monster vs. a group of survivors, we have one mortal Seeker vs. a team of ghosts. Tonally, we aim more toward Luigi’s Mansion than R-rated horror, and gameplay involves Ghosts using non-violent scares such as levitating chairs and possessing furniture to prank and distract the Seeker from their goal: taking the Ghosts’ most prized possessions. This was by design, as we’re looking to expand the audience to include not only hardcore players but casual ones as well. We’re hitting a new place in the market – there are lots of horror multiplayer games, but none are hitting this spooky/family horror vibe. It’s sort of like playing a parlor game with the Grim Grinning Ghosts of Disney’s Haunted Mansion!

Additionally, our game is asymmetrical. The Seeker is first person POV, while the Ghosts view the mansion from top-down perspective, allowing for stealth gameplay. And finally, we’ve found a way to weave narrative into progression, where you’re able to discover the mystery behind Hyde Manor and get to know each character the more rounds you play.

Since Ghost gameplay is entirely new, it’s been challenging finding a balance between the two roles. It took years of prototyping and playtesting to get where we are now, and we hope it pays off! In terms of lessons learned, our company was named Smol Games because we were hoping to make small games. Hyde’s Haunt & Seek definitely falls outside of that definition, as it’s a multiplayer game with entirely new mechanics. While on paper that seems like a good thing, in reality it was a little harder to pitch and viewed as a risk, investment-wise. We feel incredibly fortunate to have found a publisher and received funding to finish the game, but there was a point in time where we considered moving on to the next project. We may try to scope down for our next title, but a “Smol Game” to us still has to fit within our mission statement: to create unlikely connections, uniting a diverse community of players under one virtual “roof” where they can enjoy new kinds of experiences together.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We used to live in Los Feliz, and the majority of our 20’s was spent in Griffith Park. We both love a good hike to the Griffith Observatory, checking out the Planetarium and also stargazing with the telescopes.

Morgen used to volunteer at Sunset Ranch where you can take a horseback riding tour for incredible views of the city and of the Hollywood sign. One of the rides features the street where Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone dance to the song “A Lovely Night” in the movie La La Land!

In terms of beaches, although it can be crowded, there’s no beating Santa Monica. The pier has beautiful ocean views and a fun carnival games and rides. And speaking of rides, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Knott’s Berry Farm, especially if you come in the fall. Their limited time event: Knott’s Scary Farm, features mazes and an atmosphere that definitely informed the design of Hyde’s Haunt & Seek.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
It’s hard to pick just one, so we hope it’s okay to share our top 3!

Luke Schloemer was on board with Smol Games since its inception. He’s an incredible tech artist who helped us conceptualize the game and find its unique visual style, setting it apart from other games in the genre. Proud to have him on our board of directors!

James Roberts is our lawyer and mentor who guided us through many challenges from the beginning in setting up our company. He’s intelligent, patient and kind beyond words.

And finally, David Logan. David really took us under his wing, providing in-depth guidance to put Hyde’s Haunt & Seek in the best possible position for success. Time and time again, he showed us incredible kindness and generosity, helping us get our bearings and providing support in so many areas.

Website: https://www.smol.fun/

Twitter: https://x.com/Smol_Games

Other: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1641040/Hydes_Haunt__Seek/