This article was originally published in Issue 1 of the ICG Zine, March 2024. It was reformatted in November 2025, but has not been edited further.

Developer Brady Soglin (Overfull Games) took some time to talk about his current project, Tall Trails.

Brady: Tall Trails is an exploration/traversal game where you explore randomly generated islands! You play as Alp, a little golem on a quest to find his purpose. On your journey you’ll climb mountains, explore ancient ruins, and meet oddball characters. Also, my favorite part – Alp wears a magic boot on his back. He can put items in his boot and then launch them out to send himself flying up into the air! Moving with your launcher is really satisfying, and there are lots of different items you can experiment with and use to move around in different ways. I’ve been at it for 2.5 years at this point! But the first 7 months or so were spent learning how 3D game dev works and making some builds that playtested really poorly before eventually settling in on the final concept.

ICG: How have your previous games, such as Fossil Corner, tied into the development of Tall Trails?

Brady: I learned a lot from Fossil Corner! I learned some programming patterns to avoid, did my first crowd-sourced playtesting through Discord, and got better at working with proc-gen. So that’s all stuff that I’ve carried over into this game. One lesson I learned from Fossil Corner is that I need to make sure that I let playtesters test the game on their own time without me watching.

People play games very differently when they’re not being observed (as I’ve learned after Fossil Corner’s launch!) Direct observation is really good for honing tutorials & the early game, but not so much for the late game, when players pursue their own objectives.

Breath of the Wild is probably the biggest influence. I loved the climbing system and originally set out to make a game that had exploration of random terrain at its core.

Gameplay wise, the idea for finding objects and shooting them from your boot to launch yourself into the air is inspired by Neon White‘s “discard your guns to give yourself platforming abilities” mechanic. I love that game’s movement & pace, and the discard mechanic forces you to make some really interesting choices while you move. It’s a wonderful game!

Other random influences: Minecraft (infinite proc-gen landscapes), Proteus (aesthetics/proc-gen islands), Mario Oddysey (approachable but deep platforming), and A Short Hike (you know… it’s a short hike.)

ICG: What does your development process look like? Any particular highlights or focus areas for you at the moment?

Brady: I’ve settled into a process that’s really playtest focused. I try to always have the next playtest session in mind when I work and try to keep focused on only working on the minimum amount of stuff I’ll need to get that next test going.

I don’t 100% trust that any of my ideas are good until I’ve tested them on someone. When I have a build that’s ready to test, I’ll show it to friends and get feedback. That’s really crucial.

It would not be possible for me to make good games without friends and family willing to give honest feedback. After I get feedback, I readjust my goals, choose a new playtest target, and then get working.

Outside of that, though, I do try and make sure I give myself some time to just work on things that aren’t 100% essential but are fun to work on. Most of the reason I make games is because I like the process of making them, so I don’t want it to feel too grindy or chore-like.