The Team Behind Indigenous Alaskan Video Game Never Alone Talks Cultural Representation

A couple weekends back, the trailer for Never Alone caught my eye. The first title from indigenous-owned Upper One Games, Never Alone follows the adventures of an Alaska Native girl named Nuna, who must save her people from an endless blizzard. The game is based heavily in traditional Iñupiaq folklore, with authenticity at the forefront. The description alone was enough to put this one on my must-play list, but a recent Post Arcade interview with some of the game’s team members made me all the more excited for this project.

From what I’ve read, the primary focus for Never Alone has been to share an underrepresented culture through a modern storytelling medium. It’s a laudable goal, and one that its creators have not taken lightly. Upper One has partnered with E-Line Media for development, and both groups have been very conscious about getting this story right. Speaking with Post Arcade, Cook Inlet Tribal Council cultural ambassador Amy Fredeen discussed her role in developing the game, and the importance of open collaboration.

My role is particularly one that makes connections. Even though I am Iñupiaq, and this video game is based on a tradition Iñupiaq story called “Kunuuksaayuka,” the idea was not to have one person represent the values and the communities the Iñupiaq people. As we develop the game we seek out the right people to invite to the table.

One of the first things we did was have E-Line come up and meet with our partners and storytellers, a group of youth and a group of elders, so that they had the initial exposure, right away at the beginning of the project, to the people we knew we needed to have their voices at the table. Once that group of individuals worked with E-Line and really came up with the concept to really focus the game on the Arctic area and the Iñupiaq people, from there we sought out the culture bearers, the ambassadors, experts that we needed to stay involved throughout the process.

The necessity of an ambassadorial presence was echoed by creative director Sean Vesce, who joined the project as part of E-Line. He referred to himself and his team members as “students, first and foremost,” and emphasized the value of listening and learning.

One thing that came out of the original conversations, right from the start, was a cautionary tale of people who have come before, not making games, but other kind of media that have tried to appropriate elements for professional gain. If we thought the community was just going to be an advisory or a rubber stamp, that we were going to be in for a real failure.

One of the ideas exchanged was the crucial nature of community and interdependence, something Vesce saw as contrasting with the typical Western notion of an individual hero. To embody that sentiment, they created a pair of characters — Nuna and her Arctic fox — who would need to rely on each other to survive. Here, too, they found an opportunity for representation.

The idea of having an Iñupiaq girl as a main character was a hotly debated topic. Openly and collectively we ended up with the Iñupiaq girl over a male character, primarily because we felt the girl hero has been underrepresented in video games and to have a girl character that was powerful and could overcome something as harsh as that environment was something that we felt would add to the canon of games. Many of us actually have daughters, so the idea of creating something that would inspire them, for us on the development side, was important.

We wanted to balance that with a male character in the arctic fox. In the traditional fiction we learned a lot about notions of shape-shifting or animal characters who take on many different forms, and humans relying on animals, and having different relationships with them. So the idea that this uncommon companionship could form, and that the two of them would meet to work with the other would be great.

The full interview contains more food for thought about the project, as well as insights from art director Dima Veryovka on including elements of traditional artwork. Never Alone will be out later this fall. We’ll be keeping a close eye on this one.

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