Exploring Belief Systems with Mike Monroe & Scott McKie

Sure, let’s dive into this whirlwind…

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So, there I was, sitting across from this duo—Mike Monroe and Scott McKie—like, these two are the masterminds behind Belief Engine. They’re in the Pacific Northwest usually, but right now they’re somewhere in Japan. (Why Japan? Who knows, but it sounds cool, right?)

Anyway, onto the juicy stuff. These guys have been at it for 12 years. Like, a dozen years of making games. Started this whole thing for kicks, but it got serious around 2020—go figure, right? Mike made the leap to indie games again. It’s like, “Hey, I’m ready, let’s do this!”

Mike came over from Colorado to Washington, aiming for this trade school thing, DigiPen—sounds fancy, eh? Meanwhile, Scott was knee-deep in artsy stuff in Boston, then dragged himself across states to stack a Computer Science degree on top of his Fine Arts one. Might’ve been a little impulsive (’cause money, right?). But yeah, met Mike and it all clicked.

They threw together prototypes like mad scientists. Some clicked, some didn’t—chaos in motion, my friends.

Ah, but wait—there’s a game, DEAD LETTER DEPT., all horror and typewriting—props to Mike for this brainchild. Scott? He’s like a co-pilot on a different flight, hanging out in his own creative skies but aiding the journey. No shocker there—they both groove to different beats but share the same stage.

The nitty-gritty of DEAD LETTER DEPT. pulls not from Alcock but from Mike’s own contemplations on home. Lost mail, new cities, and anxiety—sounds like Monday mornings, right?

Scott’s college gig was some eerie overnight data entry thing in dark, deserted Boston. I can almost feel the chill of it—sounds like something out of a novel. His real-life escapades—tweaked into the game. Cool or what?

Mike, oh Mike, loved the sound of breaking the flow. Like, he aimed for a Tetris trance, but doused in horror. Picture him nudging Scott, “Let’s mess with minds here!” Experimental fun meets ear-ringing ambience.

And the code? Haunted? Yup, they had code doing random creepy stuff. Just imagine Mike facepalming over mysteries. But hey, it worked, and suddenly, it wasn’t “I dunno why that happened,” but more like, “Cool accident, let’s roll with it.”

First-person view—in-your-face immersive. No third-person jazz; time’s short, priorities shorter. Those sticky notes on screen, though—that’s the quirky guide we’ve come to love.

Now, Scott’s dipping into a new bag—Japanese learning game; more like piecing sounds and sights from 80s Japanese tech. And baking cookies to outsource project management—classic friend trade, right?

Japan’s got them on edge, exploring secrets in tunnels that sound straight out of Silent Hill. Mike’s on this creepy crawl, Scott snapping mismatched houses—aesthetically old-school Japan.

Their adventures, Scott talking about citizen-run taxis—like, these cab-like mysteries everywhere. And them speaking just enough Japanese to get by—like tourists on a linguistic tightrope.

Belief Engine’s antics, DEAD LETTER DEPT.’s twists, and this leap into a Japanese tapestry—it’s just balancing inspirations.

So, the game’s out there on Steam. And a soundtrack’s brewing too. Exciting, eh? Go check it. It’s something you wanna get lost in.

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