[Interview] Behind the Scenes with Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space

Season 1 is ready to Stream, almost…

Much like with Bedtime Digital Games and Figment 2: Creed Valley, this month also saw us get the chance to speak to Jeremy Fryc of Dexter Team Games and learn plenty about the upcoming Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space. So much so, when sharing extracts across a series of mini-interviews, we went as far as posting FIVE packed instalments and for those who followed them diligently, you still haven’t seen everything yet.

So, now it’s time to bring all the teasing to an end as we share the complete interview with all the answers you know and the ones you don’t. Without further ado, it is time to get this complete interview underway, and for that, first we must welcome back Jeremy Fryc:

The Name’s Fryc, Jeremy Fryc:

Miketendo64: Before we dive right into the probing questions, we always like to start things off nice and light. Therefore, would you be so kind as to introduce yourself to our readers and tell us a bit about yourself and your background?

Jeremy Fryc: Of course. My name is Jeremy Fryc and I want to thank you for your interest in my game. I’m so happy to finally be able to talk about it like this. I’m truly honored. I’ve been working on a version of this game since 2012.  At that time, I was almost exclusively interested in writing and producing music at the time.

But ScummVM had found its way onto my computer and played through some of the LucasArts classics, and I thought to myself, “Maybe I can do this. Maybe I could make a game”. I knew nothing about it. I didn’t even know what an indie game was… but here we are today!

Miketendo64: And now to follow-up, what is your role at Dexter Team Games and what is the extent of your involvement with Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space?

Jeremy Fryc: Good question — while my friends Munk Alejandro, Lola Mendez, and Alec Corday helped me create the characters in Dexter Stardust, when it comes to the actual game, I wrote the story, did all the artwork, design, and animations, as well as the sound design and music. Kind of a one-man-band, so to speak.

That’s Precisely the Point:

Miketendo64: To properly kick things of, can you tell us a bit about Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space? What is it and how does it play?

Jeremy Fryc: Dexter Stardust is a classic point and click adventure —- IN SPACE! (That exclamation point is necessary. Haha). The story is cut into 5 episodes and each one plays like a Saturday Morning cartoon. Episode 1 kicks off with Earth being destroyed by robots from the Planet X. A young Dexter narrowly escapes with his Uncle Jedo. 20 years later, Dexter and his best friend Aurora meet Robot 04, a robot from the same antagonistic planet, only to find he has an important message for Dexter which changes the course of this life forever. You’ll have to pick up the game to learn more!

Now, when I say, “a classic point and click adventure”, I mean that its third-person; you click around, move the character, interact with hotspots and pick up inventory items. The most accurate comparison I can make is Monkey Island 3 or Full Throttle. So, if you’re a fan of those games, then Dexter Stardust will be right up your alley.

Miketendo64: What is it about the Point & Click genre that excites you so much?

Jeremy Fryc: It’s partly nostalgia and partly comfort. Point and click games are leisurely. There’s no time limit. No death. No anxiety. It’s a relaxing experience. It’s wonderful to look at the artwork, meet the characters, dive into the world that has been created, and go on an adventure. A well-crafted point and click game is wonderful.

Miketendo64: During the development of Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space, were any other genres ever considered or was it always meant to be a Point & Click title?

Jeremy Fryc: Nope! This is exactly what I wanted to make. As for other genres… that’s what the sequels are for!

Planning a Series:

Miketendo64: While, for the most part, development of Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space, comes down to you and you alone, Flynn’s Arcade are also attached as a publisher. How did that relationship come to pass? What excited them about this upcoming release and how have you found the arrangement?

Jeremy Fryc: I feel really fortunate that Juan, from Flynn’s Arcade, was interested in my game. He DM’d me on Twitter and then we started chatting on Discord. I had a few publishers reach out before, but I didn’t get a good vibe from them. Juan was different. He’s super straightforward, very transparent, and an excellent communicator. He just loves games and he wants to help developers realize their dreams. He’s the reason Dexter Stardust is coming to Nintendo Switch. And in many ways, the realization that this game would be on Nintendo gave my friends (who voice the characters) the push they needed to finish the voice overs. I am extremely grateful to Juan, for sure.

Miketendo64: Featuring voiced dialogue, can you tell us a bit about the voice talent you have involved in Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space?

Jeremy Fryc: I mentioned earlier that I co-created the main characters of Dexter Stardust with my friends Munk Alejandro, Lola Mendez, and Alec Corday. They are all really creative people, and I feel very fortunate to know them. We all lived in roughly the same area of the Dominican Republic back in 2012.

One day, I was hanging out with Munk and Alec and I just said, “I’m making a game but I don’t know what the main character should look like”. So, Alec went into his closet, pulled out a leather flight jacket and put it on Munk.

Munk has such an interesting face and personality that… well, that was all we needed. I just knew… that was Dexter. He was Dexter Stardust. Alec and Lola are married, and Alec’s mother had a really cool dark-red leather jacket… Lola put that on, and BOOM! We have Aurora.

Back then, I was going to rotoscope Munk and Lola to create animations in the game. So, the characters in the game were actually going to look exactly like them.

After I completed a demo of that first rotoscoped/semi-realistic art-style, I had a legitimate panic-attack about the game. I just wasn’t happy with it (After that, I also learned to care less about the game. There are certainly more important things in life. No more panic attacks). I redesigned the art-style, and created the more cartoonish look that you see today. However, the characters are still inspired by Munk and Lola.  Naturally, they voice those two protagonists. Many other friends fill out the rest of the cast.

Miketendo64: Consisting of 5 episodes, (Episode 0: Delivery on Venus, Episode 1: Robot from the Planet X, Episode 2: Mega Problema in the Bodega, Episode 3: Escape from Mars and Episode 4: Secrets of the Moon), can you tell ourselves and our readers a bit about the design process that led to each episode and, without too many spoilers, give us a quick outline as to what each episode is about?

Jeremy Fryc: The episodes are a happy accident. Before cutting the game into episodes, I had finished a rough play-through of the game and I played through it twice. Both times I was really unhappy with how it felt. The pacing was really off, and something was just… missing.

At the time, I was watching a lot of Futurama, Bob’s Burgers, and Clarence, and I got the idea to cut the game into different episodes. So, I sat down and plotted out how I was going to do that, realized that I needed to add some cutscenes and rearrange some puzzles, and then I got to work. It took about 2 months to rearrange everything into proper episodes, but it was totally worth it.

Even so, there were compromises. One compromise I needed to make was that it would have been impossible to make each episode the same length and contain the same puzzle complexity.

Again, this is because episodic gameplay was not the original plan. But I had a solution — I added little indicators at the bottom of each episode that indicate how long the episode is, how much of the story it contains, and how puzzle-heavy it is. This was a way to inform the player’s expectations before they even start playing the episode.

Episode 0, “Delivery on Venus”, is a bonus episode that doesn’t really have anything to do with the rest of the episodes (except for a little cutscene at the end). It was designed at the very end of development, as a quick 15-minute demo. I think it took like 2 months to add on that episode.

Episode 1, “Robot from the Planet X”, very much feels like the first act of a movie. It sets up the story, and sets Dexter and Aurora on a path of no-return.

Episodes 2 and 3, are like the second act of a movie. They both take place on Dexter’s home planet of Mars. This is where you really get to see Dexter in his element. Most people know him in his hometown on Mars, and it’s fun to see Dexter interact with those kinds of people before the story whisks him away forever.

Episode 4, “Hidden Secrets of the Moon” is… a SECRET! C’mon, I can’t tell you that.

One cool thing to note though, is that every episode is playable from the first time you open the game. It’s kind of like when an entire season of a show drops on Netflix. I could have locked the episodes off, but I didn’t. If someone wants to revisit an episode, they don’t have to start from the very beginning. They can just play the episode they want to.

Miketendo64: Unlike Episodes 1-4, Episode 0 came to be as a demo. What lead to its creation? Was it something you always wanted to do, or something that came to pass later on down the line?

Jeremy Fryc: Every game needs to have a demo, and when I created episodes 1 through 4, I realized that I couldn’t really release any of that as a playable demo. Episode 1 especially is too story-heavy, too spoilery.

So, I sat down and sketched out a few scenes… and created placeholder artwork for what you see in Episode 0. With that placeholder artwork, I was able to create a playable version of the demo in about a week.

Then, over the next two months, I finalized the artwork and polished it. For me, it’s a perfect demo. 10-15 minutes of gameplay. No spoilers. Easy puzzles. And it communicates the idea of what it would be like to play the full game.

Miketendo64: With the first game described as being Season 1, should you go on to create additional Dexter Stardust adventures, would you do so as another game, made up of multiple episodes, or release additional episodes, made available as either standalone sagas, or free DLC to Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space?

Jeremy Fryc: Great question! Actually, I have already started Dexter Stardust Season 2. It’s a pixel art platformer and it picks up immediately after the first game finishes. And yes; it is episodic just like the first game. I really like that episodic format. I’m about 1/3 into the development of that game. The second game is three episodes of roughly equal length. So, I’m almost done with the first episode.

The systems are all in place. Now, it’s just creating the content… which is not an easy task, but it’s been fun learning level-design in new genre!

As far as the Dexter Stardust saga goes… I plan on three games to fully complete the story. But each game is a different genre that I personally enjoy. The first game is a point and click adventure (which we are talking about here), the second game is a pixel art adventure platformer (which I’m working on now), and the third game…. is a secret, but I have ideas!

And if you are wondering; yes, I know how the whole story ends. I planned the ending before I started working on the beginning. You gotta know where you’re going, right?

Back to the Beginning:

Miketendo64: Having first heard about Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space as far back as 2020, when did development first begin?

Jeremy Fryc: Oh boy, development started way back in 2012. But the iteration of Dexter Stardust with this catoony-style that you see now… that started post panic-attack of 2016. That’s when I scrapped what I had and started a new style. So, it has taken from 2016 until 2022 to complete this project in its current form.

Miketendo64: As the one-man band behind the development of Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space, it was quite the undertaking you took on, writing, directing, illustrating, animating, programming and scoring the soundtrack. What lead you to commence a project such as this and how did you find the challenging aspects that comes with each role?

Jeremy Fryc: As someone who has professionally written and produced music, and also done some artwork professionally, the most daunting task was programming the game. As many people know, determination is the most important to complete any project. I don’t find myself to have any particular natural talents, but I am determined.

When I started this project in 2012, at first, I was insecure about programming it, so I went to a friend who I thought could help. He did help for a few months but got busy. He insinuated that I wasn’t smart enough to program it myself, and at first, I believed him. But then I did some research online, found some accessible tools, which were Unity and the Adventure Creator asset by Chris Burton.

It was a frustrating start, for sure… but again, determination is key. Now, I feel at home with Unity and I can even program tools myself. So, I guess the lesson is… don’t let anyone tell you you’re not smart enough to do something… even if that person is your friend… or yourself!

Miketendo64: Having made Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space with Unity, how did you find working with the game engine? Were any other engines considered for creation of Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space or was Unity always your go-to choice?

Jeremy Fryc: Excellent question — like I said earlier, I was very unsure of my own ability to “program” a game. I looked into Cocos2d, Visionaire, and Unity. Remember, that this was back in 2012, and I didn’t know anything about Indie Games or game development. I was looking for a way to make a game without having to learn to code.

I found the Adventure Creator (AC) asset, developed by Christ Burton, on the Unity Asset Store. It was exactly what I was looking for. To this day, I have not seen a single engine, asset, or resource as efficient, robust, and well-designed as AC. It’s not really visual scripting, since visual scripting still requires you to program things out, just… you know… visually.

AC is like giving the game a list of commands: move player to point A, play “pick up” animation”, make sprite invisible, add item X to inventory, return player to idle, make X variable “true”. It allowed me, the developer, to focus on music, artwork, story, gameplay, design, etc. I felt like I was a two-man team; as if Chris Burton built all my tools and I could focus on design. So, a huge thanks to him.

And now that I’m actually coding in C# for my second game, AC has provided me with the ability to visualize coding architecture in a more organized way.

Another reason I chose to go with Unity, is because I knew early on that if I were to make another game, it would be best to learn game development using a flexible engine. If I were to go with Visionaire, for example, I would be locked into building point and clicks.

Of course, every engine is just a tool. I’d never criticize someone for choosing a different game engine. If you can use your engine to finish your projects, and deploy on the platforms   you are passionate about, then use whatever it takes. No one really cares how the chair is built, as long as it’s comfortable to sit on.

Miketendo64: With more than 100 playable scenes, each one consisting of 4K artwork, on average, how long would you say each scene took to create?

Jeremy Fryc: Wow, tough question — each background could take a couple of days to draw, but then you have items to pick up, NPCs, other animations… there is also a lot of iteration. I think every single scene in the game was re-drawn at least once. So, I basically drew the entire game twice. Some scenes took even more iteration.

By the time I finished, I realized that placeholder artwork is the way to go. My advice to new developers; once you’ve solidified your art-style, just plop sketches into your game engine and use that placeholder artwork to design the game. After the gameplay is finished, finalize those sketches. After that, the refinement process takes a lot less time, rather than redrawing completed artwork. My process for the demo episode was so fast, because it was the last one I worked on. I learned from my previous mistakes.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work:

Miketendo64: While, for the most part, development of Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space, comes down to you and you alone, Flynn’s Arcade are also attached as a publisher. How did that relationship come to pass? What excited them about this upcoming release and how have you found the arrangement?

Jeremy Fryc: I feel really fortunate that Juan, from Flynn’s Arcade, was interested in my game. He DM’d me on Twitter and then we started chatting on Discord. I had a few publishers reach out before, but I didn’t get a good vibe from them. Juan was different. He’s super straightforward, very transparent, and an excellent communicator. He just loves games and he wants to help developers realize their dreams. He’s the reason Dexter Stardust is coming to Nintendo Switch. And in many ways, the realization that this game would be on Nintendo gave my friends (who voice the characters) the push they needed to finish the voice overs. I am extremely grateful to Juan, for sure.

Miketendo64: Featuring voiced dialogue, can you tell us a bit about the voice talent you have involved in Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space?

Jeremy Fryc: I mentioned earlier that I co-created the main characters of Dexter Stardust with my friends Munk Alejandro, Lola Mendez, and Alec Corday. They are all really creative people, and I feel very fortunate to know them. We all lived in roughly the same area of the Dominican Republic back in 2012.

One day, I was hanging out with Munk and Alec and I just said, “I’m making a game but I don’t know what the main character should look like”. So, Alec went into his closet, pulled out a leather flight jacket and put it on Munk.

Munk has such an interesting face and personality that… well, that was all we needed. I just knew… that was Dexter. He was Dexter Stardust. Alec and Lola are married, and Alec’s mother had a really cool dark-red leather jacket… Lola put that on, and BOOM! We have Aurora.

Back then, I was going to rotoscope Munk and Lola to create animations in the game. So, the characters in the game were actually going to look exactly like them.

After I completed a demo of that first rotoscoped/semi-realistic art-style, I had a legitimate panic-attack about the game. I just wasn’t happy with it (After that, I also learned to care less about the game. There are certainly more important things in life. No more panic attacks). I redesigned the art-style, and created the more cartoonish look that you see today. However, the characters are still inspired by Munk and Lola.  Naturally, they voice those two protagonists. Many other friends fill out the rest of the cast.

Miketendo64: Was there anything in particular you were looking for when trying to find the right voice for each character? How long did the search take?

Jeremy Fryc: For sure. The characters in the game reflect the cultures and languages that I have personally experienced. Like I said, I lived in the Dominican Republic, and I was there for about 9 years. So, I speak Spanish and Haitian Creole, in addition to my native English. I wanted to put those Latin American cultures, and the people that represent them, into the game.

Naturally, the characters must be played by people who actually represent those cultures. For example, if there is a Haitian person in the game, then a Haitian person had to play that individual. The difficult part is not finding someone who compliments the description of the character, it’s finding someone who can voice-act AND has recording equipment at home (because of the pandemic). So… that’s a tough combination to find. Again, I feel so fortunate to have so many talented friends. We eventually got it done.

Interestingly, one character who only plays a minor role in this game (larger role in future games), is the voice you hear talking to Dexter when Episode 1 starts. I had a friend do all the voices three times for that character… but man… he’s a good friend… but he CANNOT voice-act. It was just terrible. Haha. We had a good laugh about it. I ended up reaching out on Twitter. I posted that I was looking for a voice actor and I got a LOT of offers. I ended up going with Luron Morgan, who is amazing. Such a sweet guy. Super talented and super humble.

Miketendo64: As part of our research to compose the questions for our interview, we found a tweet by your brother, talking about the game, how proud he is to see how much it has progressed and how fun it was seeing this progression. We absolutely love seeing things and really liked the part about Ben providing some feedback. Any chance we could ask about some of the feedback that was provided and how it improved Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space?

Jeremy Fryc: One of the hardest parts about developing a game is getting good feedback. This is because people simply have different tastes. For example, if someone plays a Mario game, and says, “it would be better if Mario had a sword”. Well, that’s certainly interesting feedback, but is it good feedback?

Surprisingly, I actually don’t play many games apart from first-party Nintendo games and a few indie titles, but my brother is a huge gamer. He plays everything. He is also a very experienced designer. I was showing him some gameplay, and of course, point and click games are generally very dialogue heavy.

He noticed that it was difficult to easily parse the most important parts of the conversations; the parts with clues about puzzles. He simply suggested that I include rich text in the dialogue subtitles, which would make those clues stand out a bit more. THAT is good feedback. It doesn’t fundamentally change what the game is intended to be, but it allows it to be a better version of itself.

Delightful Dialogue:

Miketendo64: Point and click games are famed for their dialogue. For some, they make or break the game. Is there any line of dialogue that you created for Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space that will forever stand out as your favourite piece?

Jeremy Fryc: Yeah, I have a couple, but my favorite are all ad-libbed. In the game, “Planet X” and “Vrees” are two names for the same planet. I wrote a line for Munk (who plays Dexter) who responds to someone using one of those names while he uses the other. In response, Munk was supposed to say “To-May-toh, To-mah-toh”, but he ad-libbed “Tomato Tomato”. When I was editing his voice overs, I couldn’t stop laughing. It’s not the funniest joke, but it make me laugh.

Another one that Munk ad-libbed is in episode 4. It’s very reminiscent of the “how much wood could a woodchuck chuck” conversation from Monkey Island 2. Munk is not a gamer at all, and has never played that game, but somehow he ad-libbed this hilarious line while talking about “The Commander” with a menacing robot called the “Vanguard”;

Dexter: Who are you exactly?

Vanguard: I am a Vanguard of the Commander of Vrees.

Dexter: Uh… who is this “the Commander”.

Vanguard: He is the one who commands.

Dexter: What does he command?

Vanguard: He commands everything on Vrees.

Dexter: So, he commands man?

Vanguard: Yes, he commands man.

Dexter: And what if man doesn’t obey his command?

Vanguard: Man must obey his command.

Dexter: Has there ever been a man who has not obeyed the command of this man?

Vanguard: Never has there been a man who has not obeyed the command of this man.

Dexter: So, the real question is; how much command could a commander man command if a commander man couldn’t command man?

I’m still shocked that Munk ad-libbed that final line when he was recording it by himself, in his attic. Amazing stuff.

Miketendo64: Just how long did it take to record the 6,000+ voice lines for Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space?

Jeremy Fryc: Too long. It’s funny because the game was basically “finished” in late 2019… and then when we were about to record, the pandemic hit. I mean, all the other aspects of the game were on me, it wasn’t too difficult to work on. I just needed to be focused and patient with myself. But when it came to the voice overs, I had to rely on other people… and when it came time to get people recorded… boom; the pandemic hits. So frustrating.

But my friends are the heroes here; Munk and Lola had the most lines. Munk actually plays Dexter, Uncle Jedo, Bayard (Dexter’s father), Little Dexter, and Chucho. Overall, he had well over 3000 lines of dialogue, maybe close to 4000. He lives in Northern California, and recorded those line last year (2021) when all the forest fires were going on.

He had to evacuate his house for a few months. It was crazy. He thought he was going to lose everything. But the fires stopped about a mile or two from his house. It was a really stressful time for him, but somehow he managed to perform all those lines with the enthusiasm you hear in the game. He’s amazing.

After getting all the lines recorded (and edited, which is sooooo boring and tedious), I realize why most devs choose not to include voice over; it’s just really hard.

But I’m so happy we chose to do so. I mean, if it wasn’t for the game, it’s possible that Munk, Lola, Alec, and I would have lost touch after all these years, now that we all live in different parts of the world. But the game is like this thread keeping us connected. No matter how the game performs, our friendship is priceless.

Trivial Trivia & Tasty Tacos:

Miketendo64: Being the “Futurama-esque” Point & Click game that it is, just how much inspiration does Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space draw from Futurama? We get very strong Bender vibes every time we see the robot.

Jeremy Fryc: Haha. Yeah, I’ve heard that. It was sub-conscious, for sure. I was watching a lot of Futurama when I was drawing the artwork… no doubt that influenced my decisions. Strangely though, Bender never came to mind when I designed Robot 04. I Looked at the other main characters, Dexter, Aurora, and Uncle Jedo… and I asked myself what color was missing from the main cast. I played around with some colors and landed on this turquoise color for the robot. His eyes definitely resemble Benders though, right? Haha. I dunno. I’ll blame my sub-conscious.

Miketendo64: Dexter Stardust is such an interesting name. How many other names did you consider for the main hero before settling on this one?

Jeremy Fryc: None, really. I just tried thinking about regular names that sound “spacey”, and Dexter sounded cool to me. I also like that it can be shortened to “Dex”. As for Stardust… I have no idea… but I’ll tell you this… this is kind of funny; I was really far into development when “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” came out… and they have these two main protagonists, a man and woman, with a robot companion… sound familiar?

And that robot looks kind of like Robot 04… and then, Jyn Erso’s nickname is “Stardust”… I was like “WHAT!? Does Disney have access to my files? What is happening?!” Haha. For the record, I did not copy that movie. It’s just insane… I mean, I already had all that stuff in my game. Weird coincidence.

Miketendo64: Described as being a “taco lover,” in Dexter’s eyes, what makes up the perfect taco?

 Jeremy Fryc: Bueno…. Déjeme decirte algo…. El mejor taco es subjetivo, pero a mi me gusta unos tacos auténticos… tiene que ser con dos tortillas de maíz , carne asada, un poco de cebolla, cilantro, salsa, y limón. Ya tengo hambre.

Miketendo64: Unrelated to Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space, we are very impressed by your skateboarding skills. Hobbies are important and so, we must ask, whilst performing a 360-flip at 37 years old is a highlight, what is a singular bad moment you’ve had when it comes to skateboarding? (Having partook in mountain boarding and narrowly avoiding breaking my back in a botched stunt attempt, I sympathise in advance.)

Jeremy Fryc: Oh my — well, it sounds like you know all about bad injuries. When I lived in the Dominican Republic I didn’t skate. So, that was for like 10 years. When I moved back to the states in my 30s, I was eager to start skating again. In my first year back on the board, I broke my ankle, dislocated the AC-joint in my left shoulder (which is still dislocated), and smashed my teeth in the corner of a ledge, which broke all my front teeth, fractured my skull, deviated my septum, and severely lacerated my upper lip (I was wearing a helmet)… I’m still recovering from that last injury… dental issues take a long time to sort out.

Still, I’m skating a bit safer now-a-days, trying to be more modest, respect my limits. You just can’t give up. It’s important to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and keep going. All aspects of our lives are intertwined. I feel that if you lack determination in one aspect, that will trickle over to your other endeavors. Be modest, but don’t give up.

Dreaming the “N” Possible:

Miketendo64: Since we are a Nintendo site, with the likes of WayForward being allowed to work on the upcoming Advanced Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp and Brace Yourself Games developing 2019’s Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda, if you had the chance to work on ANY Nintendo IP, which one would be your dream come true and, if you were in charge of the entire project, what kind of game would you like to make?

Jeremy Fryc: Wow, big question — honestly, I have no ambitions or desire to work on any other game properties other than the ones I create. I love Mario games the most, but I wouldn’t want to disrupt my enjoyment by peering behind the Mario-curtain. It’s lovely to receive a brand-new Mario game and dive in. It’s like a perfectly created gift someone gives you. I don’t want to create that gift myself. It wouldn’t be as special for me.

I would however like to “borrow” some of those first-party Nintendo mechanics and place them into my own games. I would love to create a 3D, semi-open world adventure game that feels like Bowser’s Fury. That was my favorite game last year. A more story/character/puzzle driven version of that would be really interesting to explore.

Final Words:

Miketendo64: Since Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space is by no means the only game Flynn’s Arcade are involved with, we would love to take this moment to talk about some of their other games. So, are there any games you would love to recommend to our readers? 

Jeremy Fryc: Flynn’s Arcade is publishing a retro point and click adventure called “Aboard of Adventure” that looks like it will be really fun. It is fully voice acted, which I love. Can’t wait to play it.

Miketendo64: Other than Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space, does Dexter Team Games and by extension, Flynn’s Arcade have anything else lined up in the pipeline that gamers the world over could hope to enjoy sometime later in 2022 and 2023?

 Jeremy Fryc: Well, I am working hard on Dexter Stardust Season 2. It would be amazing to release that in 2022, but I’m feeling like it will most likely be sometime in 2023.

Miketendo64: Final question, is there anything you would like to say, or any additional comments you would like to add, for our readers and your fans? The floor is yours.

Jeremy Fryc: First of all; go buy “Dexter Stardust; Adventures in Outer Space” when it comes out on March 3, 2022. It’s only 9.99 USD, but we could have easily made it 20 dollars. 9.99 is a bargain for a fully voice acted point and click adventure these days. Go get it! Second; if you are working on your own project, stay determined. Be modest, but don’t give up. Third; thank you so much for the interview and thank you to the reader. I appreciate you taking the time to check out my game and I hope you’ll enjoy it when it comes out.

A huge “thank you” goes out to Jeremy. We know there is plenty to digest in this interview and we’re really grateful for the elaborate answers. We would also like to thank our readers for sticking it out to the end and we hope you enjoyed this interview as much as we did and look forward to the next one.

About Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space:

Space! Dexter Stardust barely escaped when the Vreesians, inhabitants of the menacing Planet X, sent a fleet of robots to destroy all life on Earth. Now, twenty years later, a mechanical man from the 10th planet seeks to communicate to Dexter a very important message – he is the key to saving both humans and Vreesians. Play the taco-loving Dexter Stardust as he, and his good friend Aurora, go on the greatest adventure of their lives and discover the mystery of the Robot from the Planet X!

• Classic Adventure Gameplay
• Created as a classic point and click adventure, you can walk, talk, and interact with everything in your surroundings. Use and pick up inventory items to solve puzzles in over 100 unique scenes.
• 5 Episodes in One Game
• Playing Dexter Stardust is like watching back-to-back episodes of a Saturday morning cartoon! With 5 total episodes, feel free to jump to or replay any episode you’d like at any time.
• Full Voice Acted
• All characters, cutscenes, and gameplay are completely voice acted!
• An Adventure for Everyone

The whole family can go on a spacey adventure; with its non-violent gameplay, incredible story, logical puzzles, and easy controls, Dexter and gang are sure to jump off the screen and into your heart.

Feel free to learn more about Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space, when it releases on the Nintendo Switch later this year, on March 3, 2022.