MOON CATALYST – Thai Indie Studio Behind PSYCHO DEAD Talks with Online Station
We at MOON CATALYST had the opportunity for an exclusive interview with Online Station, one of Thailand’s largest digital gaming media.
In this feature, we discussed PSYCHO DEAD — a Thai-made survival horror game — covering topics such as the game’s core concepts, inspirations, development process, expectations and more. Without further delay, let’s dive into the full interview.
Q: How many people are currently on the PSYCHO DEAD development team, and what roles does each person take on?
A: We’re an indie studio with a core team of just four people. Each of us handles multiple roles including game development, game design, 3D modeling, writing, and marketing.
For other specialized tasks, we collaborate with external contractors to achieve the quality we’re aiming for. We also receive great support from interns from various universities majoring in game development and digital arts.
Q: What was the starting point or inspiration behind creating PSYCHO DEAD?
A: We’ve all been close friends since high school. The game’s director, Yutthana Chankhruea (Earth), has always been a huge fan of the survival horror genre, which became the foundation for this project.
PSYCHO DEAD draws heavy inspiration from classics like Resident Evil, Dead Space, Galerians, and Parasite Eve.
On the anime side, our major influences include Deadman Wonderland, Akira, and Elfen Lied — in fact, the opening scene featuring the mysterious red-helmet girl is a direct tribute to Elfen Lied.
Q: During development, what kinds of challenges did your team face, and how did you overcome them?
A: Honestly, we ran into so many problems that we didn’t even know where to begin fixing them. Every stage of development came with its own set of challenges — that’s the reality of making your first-ever game.
We learned through trial and error, trying out different approaches to make things work. On top of that, working with a limited budget meant we had to carefully plan and spend every bit of it efficiently to ensure we could complete the game the way we envisioned.
Q: What will the game’s price be?
A: We plan to set the price at $29.99 USD.
Q: How long will it take players to finish the game for the first time?
A: Based on our playtesting, we estimate around 8 hours for the average player. Of course, that depends on the chosen difficulty and the decisions each player makes — it could range anywhere between 7 to 10 hours in total.
Q: Will there be any unlockable costumes for Elixia aside from her default outfit?
A: Absolutely! Players will be able to unlock multiple special costumes for Elixia through various in-game challenges and conditions.
We want to emphasize that there will be no microtransactions or additional payments required — all costumes can be unlocked purely through gameplay.
Developer’s Closing Message
Since releasing the demo, we’ve received an overwhelming amount of feedback from players around the world. We truly appreciate every comment and suggestion — they’ve been invaluable in helping us improve and polish PSYCHO DEAD even further to deliver the best possible experience.
We want to sincerely thank everyone who has supported and encouraged us along this journey.
If you’d like to support us, please consider adding PSYCHO DEAD to your Steam Wishlist and following the game — it really means a lot to our small indie team and helps us continue developing this project with all our heart.