Braid art director David Hellman has formed a new studio called Furniture & Mattress alongside Carto lead writer Nick Suttner and Ethereal developer Nicolas Recabarren.
The fully-remote studio is currently working on an unannounced project with support from Astra Fund, a self-styled philanthropic venture fund that recently broke cover.
Furniture & Mattress’ debut title will be a project that combines the team’s “shared love of adventure and exploration, clever puzzles, and weird humor.”
Although it’s being kept under wraps for now, the project will feature art and animation from Hellman and a narrative created by Suttner, who’ll also be handling production and business development.
Recabarren will take the lead on game design and programming, while composer Tomas Batista has been brought onboard to oversee audio and scoring duties.
Outlining the studio’s approach to game development, Suttner said Furniture & Mattress intends to handle production in a “healthy way.”
“We’ve all been making games in some capacity for a long time, so it was important to us to do it in a healthy way — biting off something of the right scope, paying ourselves properly, and sharing in the creative vision of the game,” they commented.
“It was also critical to find great partners to work with for the things we can’t do ourselves, like Astra Fund and Popagenda. We want to give this game its best chance at success.”