Imperial Playgrounds Wants to Make Its Mark in the Games Industry

A few years ago, ten friends met during the two-year game development program at YRGO and quickly realized they shared the same ambition. They wanted to create games that resonate emotionally and tell meaningful stories - games they themselves felt were missing from the market and wanted to play. During their internship period, the group began developing a prototype that would later evolve into their flagship project, Project Solar.

The work quickly started to gain attention. The team was nominated in the Best Technology category at Swedish Game Awards 2024, giving them both confidence and new opportunities. The nomination led to a trip to Malta to pitch the game, as well as the opportunity to present the concept on stage during Redeye’s investor day in Stockholm.

– We’re a group of classmates from two sister classes in the program who started developing Project Solar during our studies. The team consists of roughly an equal number of women and men. Right now, around five of us are actively working on the game development, since some team members are currently working as consultants, including in Japan, while others are focused on different projects. But everyone is still part of the company, says Patrik Andersson, Co-Founder and Game Director at Imperial Playgrounds.

In 2025, the game studio Imperial Playgrounds was officially founded. Alongside Project Solar, the studio has also developed Anchor’s Lament, which was released on Steam earlier this April. The free-to-play title is a multiplayer 2D autobattler centered around anchors and sea creatures.

– Last summer, I got the idea to create a side project, and now Anchor’s Lament has been released on PC. A mobile version is coming soon. We’re also planning to release new content patches every month. The idea behind the game was to show that we can actually make games - as a foundation for future projects and partnerships. The fact that it became this type of game is honestly quite selfish, since I personally love the genre, says Patrik Andersson with a laugh.

Just a few days after the release of Anchor’s Lament, the team also launched a demo for Project Solar. The game is a co-operative open-world adventure where two robots arrive at a human colony on another planet, only to discover that the humans themselves never seem to have arrived. The robots’ mission becomes uncovering what happened to humanity. The story is non-linear and shaped by the player’s choices throughout the game.

– We’ve involved players and the community early in the development process via Discord, where they’ve been able to test early versions of both games. It’s both incredibly fun and extremely valuable. They give us feedback and new ideas that help shape the development. In the end, we make games for the players, and they’re very good at providing constructive feedback. Our wishlist numbers keep growing, and right now we’re looking for funding to complete the launch of Project Solar. In a few weeks, we’ll also be showcasing the game at Nordic Game in Malmö, says Patrik Andersson.

The team first came into contact with the startup program during their studies through Jimmy Lee Öhman, who initially became their mentor during the internship period. Later, they joined Sweden Game Startup, where Jimmy now serves as their business coach at the Gothenburg node.

– We joined the program early and have received a lot of support in shaping the company. We haven’t even had the chance to make use of all the support available yet, but we’ve already received incredible help with pitching and learning how to market our ideas and games. The best thing about Science Park Skövde is their long experience in the games industry and their willingness to share that knowledge with us and other startups. The community is fantastic, and it’s inspiring how we help each other grow. We stay in close contact with other studios and also take on interns ourselves from our former education, says Patrik Andersson, and continues:

– The goal is, of course, for things to go well and for us to soon be able to stand on our own, with external funding and a launch of Project Solar.

Imperial Playgrounds wants to continue creating games they themselves enjoy playing, and work on the studio’s next project has already begun in a pre-production phase.

– We’re definitely not short on ideas. Above all, we just want to keep making games. To anyone dreaming of starting their own game studio, I only have one thing to say: there’s no better country to start an indie studio in. Just go for it, concludes Patrik Andersson.