Lyara brings a sentimental experience through 2D platforms | Mundo Indie

If partners Júnior Costa and Bruno Caputo had continued their studies in Mechanical Engineering and worked in real estate marketing, they probably wouldn't have crossed paths with Mundo Gamer as they did. Nor would we have Bolha Game Studio, or their first game project, Lyara.

We spoke with the duo to learn more about the studio's history, their journey into the Brazilian indie market, and of course, about Lyara, the 2D platformer game they're developing, promising to deliver an emotional experience with challenging gameplay.

What is Bolha Studio like?

Like many stories of indie studio origins in Brazil, Júnior and Bruno's is quite similar: it all began with a shared dissatisfaction in their chosen careers. 

Childhood friends, Júnior was working as a graphic designer in real estate marketing; Bruno was studying Mechanical Engineering but wasn't sure if it was the right path.

The idea of working with games came from Bruno:

"It's quite common to find people in the industry who, since their teenage years, think, 'what if I made a game, what would it be like?' I just didn't know back then that it was possible to work with this," says Bruno.

In 2022, both left their jobs, ventured into side projects, and after a game jam, discovered their true passion: working with games, of course.

Bruno works as a programmer, while Júnior handles the artistic side and sound design. Game design and scriptwriting are shared between them.

Currently, besides the two partners, they have two more employees working in Marketing and community management. The goal of these hires was to get closer to the audience and spread the studio and Lyara to the gaming community. 

Although all the work is technically being done by four hands, the help of other professionals was important, even indirectly. They sent the project to several studios, and many responded with feedback and insights that were and are essential for refining the game. Júnior comments on this receptivity:

"In the indie scene, especially here in Brazil, everyone faces many difficulties in moving their projects forward. That's why I don't see competition between studios, but rather a cool openness for one to help the other. We were quite surprised by everyone's receptivity, from larger studios to those at our level of size and experience. We felt embraced, and it's gratifying to see this entire support network, which ends up becoming a snowball: today I'm helped, tomorrow I can help."

Additionally, the game's demo was present at the Brasil Game Show in 2023, and the partners explain the feeling of being there:

"The networking with other developers, seeing people playing and feeling what we want them to feel during the 5-day event, served greatly to rejuvenate our strength and energy in this final stretch of the game's production."

The result of a crazy dream, persistence, and even help from family members led Bolha Studio to bring the game Lyara to the world.

The journey of Lyara

Lyara is a 2D platformer game, mainly inspired by Celeste and Hollow Knight. Initially, it was meant to be a study project, but its narrative potential prevented it from staying in the drawer. Júnior and Bruno set aside other projects to focus on their "apple of the eye" product. 

 

Lyara's narrative is based on real-life experiences, with superficial references to Buddhism, making a metaphor of the spiritual world. 

The game's protagonist is a girl who went through a traumatic event in childhood and now needs to overcome it to move on with her life.

The levels are divided into worlds, and each world represents a chakra. As each level is completed, the chakras align, balancing the girl's emotions.

Furthermore, there will be a mix of the spiritual world and the real world, especially in the collectibles: one of them will be pages from Lyara's diary, collected from the real world and serving as reflections for her in the spiritual world.

Regarding mechanics, besides the traditional ones of a platform game, there will be specific and necessary ones to pass each world. As the game progresses, they become increasingly complex. 

The most curious thing: the game wasn't supposed to have this approach. Initially, the duo wanted it to lean more towards Hollow Knight than Celeste, but they later decided on the linearity of the story and the emotional narrative.

"Indie always opens space to be more out of the box, more sentimental. We wanted to put as much of our heart and emotional value into the player's experience," says Júnior.

Release

As of the production and publication of this material, Bolha Game Studio gave us the perspective of a release in the first half of 2025.

For now, we can get a taste with the game's teaser, add it to the Steam wishlist, and follow development updates and behind-the-scenes on social media.

Add Lyara to your Steam wishlist: Steam.

If you want to know more about Bolha Game Studio, visit their Instagram.

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