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One game that’s going to make the cut no matter
what is FromSoftware’s Dark Souls [1]. It’s
probably one of the most influential releases of this
decade, it also made a direct impact on me as a
level designer. I reminisce about The Witness [2]
on a regular basis. The way the player is subtly
guided and assisted in figuring out the mechanics,
solely through the world and puzzle design, it’s
an ideal I strive to achieve in my own work, and is
something I wish was more common in modern
games. Thankfully there are still some titles
that are such a far cry from what we’re doing at
Phobia that I get to play them without feeling the
compulsion to overanalyse their design. One of
those games is Red Dead Redemption [3], which
actually convinced me to upgrade to an Xbox
One X – all for that glorious enhanced backwards
compatibility. It was totally worth it, and the tear-
jerk ending stuck with me for days. Speaking of
game endings, recently I really enjoyed playing
Inside [4], though I probably would’ve enjoyed it
more had I done it before every single person on
the internet had spoiled it for me, by pointing out
the (actually pretty vague) similarity between its
ending and the monster we designed for Carrion.
Oh well! Last but not least, I have to mention
one of my very first console games, one that’s
probably had a formative influence on me, as I got
to play it right after its release, meaning that I
was 11 years old back then... Manhunt [5].Krzysztof
Chomicki
Game and level
designer at Phobia
Game Studio
Krzysztof Chomicki
spent time as a
writer for Polish
entertainment
website GRY-OnLine
before moving into
making games.
His previous work
includes fast-
paced 2D shooter
Butcher, and he’s
currently working on
the reverse horror
game Carrion.[2][3][4][5]114 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE
OXM OUT
the disc slot
They make the games we love, but what do they play
for fun? We ask developers to pick their faves from
Xbox history. This month: Krzysztof Chomicki
[1]