A new indie studio has formed in Canada: Studio Reset. The small company was founded by three seasoned developers whose résumés include BioWare, Inflexion Games, and Timbre Games. In a press release, Reset gave players a first taste of what to expect.

You hear this kind of thing fairly often: former triple-A developers leaving the big studios behind and going independent. One example was Rym Games, founded by ex-Ubisoft developers who had worked on Rayman and Prince of Persia games, among others. "Was"? Yeah: sadly, the studio went down with its very first title, The Dark Occult. These days, only trailers remain online of what I thought was a pretty solid horror game about a female demon.

Now three veterans are taking the plunge: Kaelin Lavallée (Creative Director), Kris Schoneberg (Design Director), and Francis Lacuna (Art Director). The Canadian developers picked up their experience at studios including BioWare, contributing to games such as Mass Effect, Dragon Age, The Long Dark, and Anthem. Under the Studio Reset label, though, they’re not planning to build mini-blockbusters, as Kaelin Lavallée explains:

“Studio Reset is smaller by design. We are not trying to recreate blockbuster development at a smaller scale. We want to build original worlds with focus, intention, and a team that can stay close to the work, the creative vision, and the players we are making it for.”

First game The Eventide has an interesting design hook

That last quote may sound like standard marketing fluff, but Reset also has something a bit more concrete to offer. In its press email, the trio came straight out with details on its first project, The Eventide, which is being built around investigation.

More specifically, The Eventide blends classic adventure-mystery elements with modern 3D visuals. It centers on several investigator characters, mature themes, and something called "Parallax Deduction." Huh? There’s actually a neat idea behind it: each investigator reads clues differently and brings their own experiences, skills, and blind spots to the case. Perspective itself becomes a key part of the detective work.

Another core design principle in The Eventide is "no moon logic." In other words, puzzles and clues aren’t supposed to feel random or depend on absurd trial and error. Are you also suddenly thinking of the now more-than-30-year-old Discworld? Well, anyway: instead, puzzles are meant to be solved through observation, context, and conclusions that actually track. Reset wants players to feel clever, not lost.

Still early in development

On the one hand, that sounds commendable to me. On the other, I can’t help wondering whether it might mean some painfully rigid hand-holding. And a difficulty level that’s way too gentle—but we’ll see. The Eventide is currently in an early stage of development and is being supported with $250,000 from the Canada Media Fund.

Studio Reset plans to reveal more about its philosophy, the team, and The Eventide in the coming months, with Francis Lacuna offering this tease:

“We want Studio Reset to be known for games about strange places, hidden stories, and the curious characters compelled to uncover them. Visually, we’re building toward a world that feels beautiful, uneasy, and familiar in the wrong way. The kind of place where the ordinary starts to feel like it is hiding something.”

Well, my interest is definitely piqued—and I wish the studio the best of luck.