God, I love indie games. The creative freedom that springs forth from folks in this field makes me happy. Survival horror is not something new. We’ve seen countless new entries into one of the oldest genres for years. But Heavy Metal Death Can screams out to me, in more ways than one. Not only is it a refreshing take, ditching suburban neighborhoods for an underwater vessel. But it also screams at me in a more literal sense. Heavy Metal Death Can is full of metal music, with pounding drums and brutal blasts assaulting my ears. It’s everything I could have ever asked for. I had the opportunity to speak with one half of the dynamic duo at Krufs Productions, Toby, about how Heavy Metal Death Can came to be.

Submarines. Heavy Metal. ‘Heavy Metal Death Can’ has everything I could have ever asked for in a horror game. What inspired the idea behind this upcoming game? 


Awesome! So, my partner Fredrik and I are really into classic Survival Horror. We were inspired by more recent attempts at the genre, like Signalis and Crow Country. We also felt their take on a modern reimagining of Survival Horror was different from what ours would be, and that there is still a lot left to explore.

While some may think it’s obvious, I’d still like to know. What were the main inspirations behind ‘Heavy Metal Death Can’?

Obviously, Resident Evil comes to mind, but the inciting game was actually its prequel, Resident Evil Zero. That game starts out on a train, and that sequence is just a brilliant piece of Survival Horror.

I was contemplating with Fredrik whether or not it would be possible to have an entire game take place on a train. He came up with the submarine setting, inspired by a ’90s point-and-click adventure game called Prisoner of Ice and how that game retained the vibe of a submarine while still making it a playable space. We’re also inspired by horror films, such as Aliens, Ghost Ship, and The Thing.


The low-poly art shines with fantastic lighting. What inspired the team to go for this more “retro” approach, rather than aiming for a more realistic art style? 


We wanted an art style reminiscent of the pre-rendered backgrounds used in late ’90s/early 2000s Survival Horror and point-and-click adventure games. But reframed in a sort of idealized form where it’s more akin to how you remember those games looking, rather than being true to it. I remember playing the point-and-click classic The Longest Journey. At the time, it felt like a game from the future in many ways. Mainly thanks to its ambitious use of pre-rendered assets. It’s an enigmatic clash of high-poly background elements and low-poly character models that’s really nostalgic to me, and we wanted to capture that feeling in a modern context. 


I heard through the grapevine that all of the music for ‘Heavy Metal Death Can’ is in-house. How did this decision come to be? And have you put out any albums because I’m obsessed with the bits I’ve heard from the OST. 


Thank you, love to hear it! Metal is obviously really big in Sweden, and I’ve been in the scene since I was a teenager. Most recently, I played with a band called Primal Instinct, and we released an album during the pandemic called Devastation. I had been a bedroom producer for many years at that point. But working together with that album’s producer, Kristofer Strandberg of Eyes Wide Open, taught me so much about not only music production and mixing, but it refined my songwriting as well.

I quit the band in 2023 to focus on game development. To scratch the music itch, I’ve since produced a few songs at home with my partner under the moniker Argos Eye. When Death Can spun up, I was putting the finishing touches on our most recent song. So, I was kinda in both creative camps at the same time. When I was putting together the music for the Vertical Slice, as well as the trailer, a lot of Argos Eye DNA slipped in there, and in many ways, it felt like the missing ingredient. Death Can was cool, but adding Heavy Metal to it made it pop! 


Swedish cultural staples are going to be a major part of ‘Heavy Metal Death Can’. Could you let our readers know what they should be keeping an eye out for? 


Oh, it’s everywhere! On the first day of pre-production, Fredrik and I went to see a real-life submarine from the era at a naval museum, called ‘Maritiman’, in my hometown. It was only a few hours’ drive away. We were the only ones attending the last guided tour of the season, so we told the guide that we were game developers, and he turned out to be a gamer himself! So, he was really excited about showing off all kinds of departments on the submarine, some that would typically be locked away (thanks, Johan, you were an amazing guide).

We ended up taking about 2000 reference images of the sub and a nearby battleship, and these images have informed so much of the aesthetic of the game from environment details, weapon choices, clothing, decorations, provisions packaging, etc. We also imbue the game world with things from our own upbringing: sayings, humour, and references that even if you don’t recognize the specific things, we hope that you feel like there’s a sense of cultural density in the game world and that a lot of love and care was put into even the smallest of details.


‘Heavy Metal Death Can’ is the first game being produced by Krufs Productions. How many times has the game changed form throughout its development cycle? What are the main things you’ve learned about indie game development as a dynamic duo development team?

So, Fredrik and I had been colleagues for a few years at another game studio, and we had bonded over a shared taste in music and games for a while. As we were crunching on what would be that studio’s final release, we would often talk about developing something completely different as a palate cleanser. We had a few vague ideas of games we both wanted to make, and then last December, the studio shut down, and we were all laid off.

We didn’t waste any time and started pre-production on what would become Heavy Metal Death Can the next week! That pre-production phase lasted almost all of December, and that’s when we came up with the setting, aesthetic, plot, and scope of the game. The development of a Vertical Slice started in January, and since we had done quite a thorough pre-production pass, the development was super straightforward, with only smaller details being ironed out as we put it all together.

A Small Team with Big Goals and Ambitions

We finished the demo at the end of March and took two months to start a company, secure funding, and put together a press kit and announcement. When we got back to the game for alpha in June, we had a whole list of impressions and feedback to fuel our excitement for the development going forward!



Working in small teams can be an incredibly rewarding experience. You’re forced out of your comfort zone, getting to try out all areas of game development, and no day is the same. For this project, I truly feel like I’m firing on all cylinders in a way I never have before. Previously, I was a game artist, and I did music in my spare time. But this project is like a culmination of endeavors and skills learned years back, all rolled into one project.

Putting Their Skills Together

I studied Graphic Design in high school — good, now create a brand! Or, I do screaming vocals for music — good, now do monster sounds! That’s the eye-opening part: everything you’ve done leads up to now. Time is rarely wasted, and you never know when some skill you learned in another life will become useful to you in your current one. 



As a team, I feel like we’re on the same wavelength, but at completely different temperaments. I’m spontaneous and erratic, while Fredrik is planning and methodical. Together, we form a team that’s better than the sum of its parts. Every time I bring an idea to our conversations, I know it will come out better, and that’s an exciting environment to create in.

Are there plans to bring ‘Heavy Metal Death Can’ to consoles in the future? I’d love to play on the go on Nintendo Switch 2, if planned. 


Oh man, me too! It’s our debut title, so it depends on its initial success on the PC. But already, we’re making design decisions that would make a future console port easier. Things like what engine we use, optimizations, and controller support. Ultimately, as a studio, we want to have our games available on as many systems as possible. There’s still life to be squeezed out of older consoles. If we can help keep them alive, we would be happy to. It is something that we’re passionate about!


What are some of the most memorable parts of the development cycle of ‘Heavy Metal Death Can’ so far?

The visit to the submarine that started the whole project off is a good one. Mo-capping zombie movement was fun! Oh, and we’ve made a new enemy that explodes, sending the player and adjacent enemies flying. That was a fun day of dev with many hilarious bugs resulting from such an ability! 



But one warm memory I have is showing off the game at Nordic Games (a games conference in Malmö, Sweden). It was one week before we announced it, and we had strangers try it out for the first time. I was so nervous about whether it would resonate with people. But having survival horror fans gush about it was amazing.

Watching ‘Heavy Metal Death Can’ Come To Life

For this project, we’re making a game we want to play. No marketing analysis or looking at trends — and seeing that methodology validated is just awesome. Like finding one’s tribe. 


‘Heavy Metal Death Can’ is aiming for a 2026 release window. Is this going to be an Early Access release or a full release? 


We’re going for a full release. As a studio, other than post-launch support, we are aiming to release complete products to our players, like how it used to be. 


What type of impact are you hoping that ‘Heavy Metal Death Can’ will make on players eager to sign up and jump on board?


My favourite era of Survival Horror is 2002-2005. When the game mechanics were properly figured out, the fidelity was high enough to make for truly timeless titles. It is a painfully short era, though. We’re hoping that with Heavy Metal Death Can, we can make an addition to that canon. It is a love letter to classic Survival Horror. We hope players will pick up on the love and care put into every facet of the game. And hopefully, they’ll get a few good scares out of it, too!

Thank you so much, Shaun, for featuring our little game; it was truly a pleasure!

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I would like to thank Toby from Krufs Productions for taking the time to speak with me about Heavy Metal Death Can.