Roque Rey Ordoñez, Co-Founder of Tlön Industries Talks Kentum – Interview Series

Tlön Industries, the studio behind the upcoming survival and base-expansion hybrid game, Kentum, is currently working to finesse the formula for the ambitious “craftervania” IP—an experience that will reportedly feature a futuristic design, a “snarky” AI companion, and “quirky fauna, flora and climate events.” That’s just the tip of the iceberg, too; the game will also include crafting, exploration, and its own collection of survival-centric trimmings, to list just a few of its staple components.

Curious to hear more about Tlön Industries’ latest project? Here is everything we managed to learn from studio co-founder, Roque Rey Ordoñez…

Thanks for taking the time to sit down and speak with us — we appreciate the opportunity to connect with you on the latest developments in your upcoming project. Before we sink our teeth into that, though, would you mind quickly introducing yourself to our readers and telling us a bit more about Tlön Industries?

Roque: Sure, my name is Roque Rey. I’m one of the founders of Tlön Industries, and I’m the director of Kentum.

We founded Tlön Industries back in 2019. Our debut game was Per Aspera in December of 2020.

While the company is relatively young, the three founders have long-time experience in the gaming industry. I published Okhlos with Devolver, and my partners worked on multiple strategy games.

Your latest game, Kentum, has certainly caught our attention. For those who’ve yet to discover it, though, how would you best describe it, in a nutshell?

Roque: Kentum is a weird mix of a survival, a metroidvania, and a base expansion game.

We really care about systemic games at Tlön. And we just threw everything that we wanted to try into the mix to see what happens.

Transport us to the year 10,000—the anchor point for our perpetual journey into a world of vast emptiness and isolation. What brought this planet to its knees, and why, after so many years, has it been given a second chance to regenerate its value?

Roque: While we did the exercise of going through all the calamities that humanity endured in these 7000 or so years, (including an octopusy invasion) is not something that we’ll be focusing on in the game. You only perceive the aftermath, and get a few hints through environmental storytelling.

The short version is that everything that could go wrong, went wrong. The magnetic field of the planet reversed, global communications were cut, famines, plagues, and humanity slowly faded out of the picture.

But there is a plan to bring humanity back…

Let’s talk about Kent, or, specifically, the character’s involvement in the world’s sudden ascension from the ashes. Presumably, a lot has happened since our slip into a multi-millennia-long slumber. The question is, what will our protagonist awaken to?

Roque: Millenia of human intervention in the earth and space, have created various unique situations. We have an asteroid on orbital lock that every now and then will create low gravity zones. The fauna of the world evolved to live in a post human world. So a lot of them eat and generate microplastics and electricity.

The flora and fauna of Kentum is actually the second protagonist of the game. Every critter has a unique behaviour and they react to what happens in the world.

Walk us through the process of elevating a barebones civilization into a booming communal hub for future generations. What sorts of challenges will we have to face in order to achieve our goals of propelling our economic growth?

Roque: There are diverse challenges. You have to create a source of energy that can (eventually) sustain planetary demands. You have to create huge hydroponic farms to feed the future humans.

Humanity will not start until everything is set. The sad part is that you are the one setting everything up.

Kentum has now seen the light of day 💯

If you didn't catch the trailer yesterday on @LAGShowcase, you can watch it here to get a taste of the post-post-apocalypse Craftervania!

GO WISHLIST KENTUM NOW on Steam https://t.co/RSwiyVupiW pic.twitter.com/x5jfVuIPF7

— Tlön Industries (@TlonIndustries) December 11, 2024

Crafting is, and understandably so, a crucial part of the job, and something that we’re eager to learn more about. Would you mind telling us more about the items that we will need to collect, combine, and ultimately use to build our new home?

Roque: Lots of different minerals.

Animal parts. Pelts, bones and glands.

You’ll start by generating coal, and from there you’ll create foundries and a plethora of machines.

Of course, you also have to build a wardrobe to be a fashionista.

Of course, a few insider tips wouldn’t go amiss here. Care to provide us with a few useful tricks or general words of wisdom before we plant roots in the world of Kentum?

Roque: Locomotion upgrades are the best. Try to have as many farms as possible.

Would you mind if we asked where Kentum is in its development cycle? Could we be catching more of the game in Q1 2025, or is it still a little too early to say?

Roque: We cannot say much yet, but we are aiming at 2025 for early access.

How can we stay up to date with Kentum and all things Tlön Industries? Are there any important social handles, newsletters, or roadmaps that you wouldn’t mind sharing with our readers?

Roque: We are doing things different from Per Aspera this time. And we are trying to open up development. We created a discord and we plant to upload lots of development nuggets in there.

Our Discord invite is here.

Also, our X is here.

Would you like to add any last-minute comments to this thread before we go ahead and close the book on this?

Roque: We know that this is a very strange mix of genres, but we are surprised of how fun the game turned out. Sometimes, we keep playing and playing and we have to force ourselves to stop in order to continue working.

We cannot wait for all of you to try it and see it for yourself.

Thanks so much for taking interest in Kentum! We really appreciate!

You’ve been great — thank you, Roque!

For more information on Tlön Industries’ Kentum, be sure to follow the official X handle here. You can also add the game to your wishlist on Steam for additional coverage and pre-launch updates here.