Later that year, I signed a publishing deal with Ripstone. ‘Spectrum’ was nominated and won the BAFTA YGD Game Making Award in 2016. By the time I submitted the game to BAFTA at age 18, I had a polished 20-minute prototype over three years in the making. One of the developers I was fortunate enough to meet during the creation of this prototype was Dan Pearce, who told me about the BAFTA Young Game Designers competition. The solution was to limit colour swapping to particular cubes and design levels around those, in turn creating the core mechanic of what is now ‘The Spectrum Retreat’. Swapping colours was fun, but I soon found that you can’t design puzzles with zero constraints. I thought I was just going to create something simple, a puzzle game that invited you to look at any object and swap colours around. Bored one day, I downloaded the Unity engine and created my first project ‘Spectrum’.

I first began developing a puzzle game prototype in late 2013, at the age of 15.

Check out the reveal trailer above for an insight into the unsettling world we have created. The game challenges you to transfer colours, teleport and manipulate gravity to gain a clearer understanding of your current situation, but it soon becomes apparent that not all is as it seems. Only mannequin-like staff are present and their reasoning for wanting to keep you inside the hotel is unclear. You wake alone in the Penrose Hotel, with no memory of your past or identity. The Spectrum Retreat is a narrative-driven first person puzzle game coming to PS4 this summer. I’m a British developer based in Newcastle and today, in collaboration with my publisher Ripstone, I’m delighted to be announcing my first game: The Spectrum Retreat.

Hey everyone, I’m Dan Smith – representing 100% of Dan Smith Studios.

Download the spectrum retreat ps4