A Circus Lost in the Nightmare Realm
I spoke with Kachain Puttiwarawut, CEO of FairPlay Studios in Bangkok, about his latest project: Nightmare Circus.
While I haven’t had the chance to play it yet, the trailers, screenshots, and my interview with FairPlay Studios have all left me very excited! The art style is whimsically haunting—cute yet dark—and the gameplay promises an accessible yet innovative layer of depth with its puppet‑string mechanics.
With every part of their incredibly diverse portfolio building toward this moment, Nightmare Circus is poised—hopefully—to be FairPlay’s biggest hit yet.
What exactly is Nightmare Circus?
Nightmare Circus is an action-adventure game by Bangkok-based Studio Fairplay Studios. Players take on the role of a puppeteer trapped in the Nightmare Realm: lost in this unknown land. The goal of the puppeteer is to find their lost circus troupe comrades and escape to the real world again. However, in order to achieve this they must first solve the mysteries of the Nightmare Realm. At the same time… defeating its foes…
Pulling the Strings: How does Nightmare Circus’ Collision Combat Mechanic work?
The core feature that sets Nightmare Circus apart is the Puppet String mechanic. Players will use the puppeteer’s sticks to fend off hostile enemies, but they also offer a unique movement and collision combat mechanic. This means that the puppeteer’s strings can be used to traverse terrain, or to interact with in-game objects to smash, crash, and slam into enemies.
As a result, these strings will create unique ways to overcome obstacles and escape danger! Kachain told me they also took inspiration from Zelda in how the player uses their environment. In the same way that using fire on fire-enemies can buff them in Zelda, players of Nightmare Circus will have to be mindful of exactly how they are using their strings.
FairPlay Studios Spotlight
FairPlay Studios lives by the mantra of “May Our Games Brighten Your Day”: which has two meanings. One comes from Kachain’s own personal relationship with video games. He was brought up in Bangkok and there wasn’t much for him to do as a “city kid”. So, Kachain found his joy and spark playing video games, and in that sense: they brightened his day. He wants FairPlay’s games to do the same. In the literal sense, imagine somebody turning on a console and the screen turns on: brightening their face with that computerised glow. That’s what is behind the mantra.
FairPlay Studios are a game development studio and production house, they’ve got a very diverse portfolio of past projects which Kachain attributes to their trend-predicting business model. Each development cycle is trying to guess what will be popular two to three years ahead of time. The way this is done, Kachain said, is by understanding that trends in gaming are cyclical – like Fashion. It’s this business mindset (coming from his background in banking) that has helped FairPlay consistently secure funding and publishing.
As Kachain described it to me, they are a “Business” first, and people are not investing in a single project or single game with them. They invest in the business. As a result, every project builds on the last, each animation asset goes into a library and each game gets a more streamlined development cycle. Kachain expects that for FairPlay’s shareholders and investors who trusted in their vision: Nightmare Circus will be the main release that pays it back to them.
We are so excited to see it happen!
Roadmap and Wishlists!
So – when is the release date of Nightmare Circus?
Well, right now we still don’t know… it’s to be announced. But if you want to keep tabs on it you can wishlist it here.
Check out more Studio Spotlights on Game Scout Journal here!
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[…] Nightmare Circus: Thai Action Adventure by FairPlay Studios […]