The Belief Engine featuring Mike Monroe & Scott McKie

Alright, let’s dive into this. Imagine sitting in a cozy café, rain drizzling outside (must be the Pacific Northwest, right?), and you’re chatting with Mike Monroe and Scott McKie. They’ve got this indie game studio, Belief Engine—yeah, it’s been around for a while, like 12 years or something. Anyway, they’re currently adventuring in Japan, soaking up all that creative goodness.

So, how did these two even meet? Mike took a leap and moved from Colorado to Washington to attend this trade school called DigiPen back in 2004. Scott, on the other hand, went the artistic route and dabbled in Fine Arts in Boston before realizing a sudden craving for Computer Science. A classic Monday morning epiphany. He moved over to Washington too, but surprise, student debt’s a thing, so the whole degree thing was kinda pushed aside.

At some point, these guys were like, “Let’s make a video game together.” A bunch of prototypes later—and a heap of patience, no doubt—they finally got things rolling. You can almost see them laughing about those earlier experiments late at night over caffeine-fueled brainstorming sessions.

Now, let’s talk about inspiration. Scott said the eerie vibes of his late-night job—hello, creepy warehouse—really shaped DEAD LETTER DEPT. It was all about the odd but weirdly captivating experience of entering addresses in silence. You’d think it’s mind-numbing, but there’s something zen about it, like, “in the zone,” as Scott put it.

Mike, meanwhile, was super into designing this horror game that messes with your head. I mean, what’s more fun than playing around with a haunted codebase, right? Sometimes, the game would do something bizarre, and he had no clue why. But that kind of unpredictability was pure gold, sparking that creative flair.

The whole vibe is first-person, thanks to some inspiration from playing ‘P.T.’. It just feels immersive, like stepping into a new pair of shoes. And the game design itself is almost like a love letter to both old-school JRPGs and the retro Japanese aesthetics.

The two of them are also dabbling in Japanese adventures, poking around creepy tunnels, and taking snaps of quirky houses. Oh, and visiting the Japan Oni Cultural Museum. It’s a heap of fun when you’re piecing together cultural puzzles without being fluent in Japanese.

“DEAD LETTER DEPT.” is up on Steam, with a soundtrack coming soon. These guys are definitely on a wild ride, bringing life and a touch of madness to their games and adventures. You’ll probably chuckle at their side quests through Japan more than once. Anyway, best keep an eye out for their next big thing.