The History of Roso Games
Roso Games originated in late 2021 when someone on the Roso Production’s Discord asked if we were also making games in addition to music. The idea was born and developed very quickly, and in October 2022, the first Roso Games game development project began with 15 brave participants. The project was to be carried out 100% online, with participants living in different parts of Finland. Senior Game Designer Eetu Rantanen, who has extensive experience in the games industry and teaching, became the brains behind the project. The practical arrangements were handled by Roso production director Sampo Riskilä.
The goal of the project was clear to everyone: to learn together the different aspects of game development and create a game as a team, which would be released in the spring of 2023. After many twists, countless hours of work, and bugs, we were finally able to play the digital Sisuvala card role-playing game, inspired by Finnish culture and the mythology of the Kalevala, at the end of May 2023. However, the team, which had evolved from complete beginners into a skilled dev team, was not fully satisfied with the final result, so the game’s refinement was decided to continue in autumn 2023. Sisuvala was finally released on the international indie game platform Itch.io on November 1, 2023.
While Sisuvala was still undergoing final fixes, preparations for the new Roso Games 2.0 project and the selection of participants had already begun. In October 2023, a new online production started with a new team with participants from different parts of Finland. As with the previous project, the fall was spent learning the basics of coding and game design skills. In December 2023, the team gathered in Helsinki to play mini-games developed during game jams and pitch game ideas to each other. A game was then chosen through a vote, which would be developed by the group in the spring of 2024. Once again, after countless hours of work and brainstorming, we were able to celebrate the release of the new game Fruillo & Berri.
In the summer of 2024, Roso Games had a real game changer when Illusian, the foundation of Supercell’s founder Ilkka Paananen, joined as a partner and funder. New game projects kicked off again in October 2024 with new participants. What will be created and what kinds of games will be released in the spring of 2025 will unfold along the way. You can follow Roso Games on social media to see what’s coming. One thing is certain: there will not be any boring moments this time either!
