They immediately sent me funds and that’s how I got started in the video game scene. I sent this off to Epic and just generally inquired as to whether this was the sort of thing they were looking to fund in their grant system. I began dabbling with Unreal Engine and made a little demo video that showcased the early concepts of The Artful Escape. Johnny Galvatron, creative director at Beethoven & Dinosaur: Well, at first, I just planned to make a little iPad app like Sword & Sworcery, but it kinda spiraled out of control. Given that The Artful Escape is Beethoven & Dinosaur's first game, what can you tell us about the studio? The creative director shares his inspiration behind the game, speaks to how he transitioned from rock musician to indie dev, elaborates on what it means to receive an Unreal Dev Grant and more. To see how Beethoven & Dinosaur pulled off these impressive feats, we caught up with Galvatron. Despite coming from a relatively small studio, the game managed to garner nominations for Best Art Direction, Best Music, and Best Debut Indie from The Game Awards. It features a psychedelic 2.5D art style, and Forbes called it “ the most beautiful indie game Of 2021.” This is all the more impressive when you consider the core development team consisted of fewer than 10 developers.

The Artful Escape represents a coming-of-age journey that takes players on a multidimensional adventure. As a result, the game features a musical motif that elegantly intertwines a stellar soundtrack with its gameplay.

Being the first game from relatively new Australia-based studio Beethoven & Dinosaur, the title was conceived by Johnny 'Galvatron,' one of the founding members and lead guitarist for the band The Galvatrons.

The Artful Escape doesn’t have your typical game development origin story.

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