Gwen Frey is no stranger to grand concepts or epic games. After her work on landmark titles like BioShock Infinite and The Flame in the Flood, she’s returned to the gaming world with something fresh. Enter Lab Rat, a quirky sci-fi puzzle game that’s now making waves on Xbox. In this intriguing tale, players face off against S.A.R.A., an AI that is a little too full of itself.
With more than 100 puzzles crafted by hand, witty dialogue, and unexpected emotional depth, Lab Rat offers an experience that blends logical problem-solving with the sensation of being constantly monitored. To dig deeper into this fascinating world, I caught up with Gwen to discuss her approach to puzzle design, the joys and challenges of working solo (and occasionally with a team), and what it’s like to be the voice behind almost every character in her game.
Corey: S.A.R.A. is central to Lab Rat’s charm—a sharp-witted AI that tracks the player’s every move, injecting both humor and tension into the experience. Gwen, how did this concept influence the gameplay?
Gwen: S.A.R.A. was actually born alongside the core elements of the game. My puzzle designer and I felt a bit like lab rats ourselves—locked in, isolated during the pandemic—which naturally seeped into our creative process. Our puzzles reflect that, with their confinement themes, nervous animations, and electrified blocks mimicking out-of-control science experiments.
Visually, a lot of inspiration came from my own experiences during lockdown, working with dual monitors and having most interactions through a screen. This helped shape S.A.R.A. as an overbearing algorithm who never stops observing you, mirroring that strange, disconnected feeling many of us lived through. Everything started to align once we had that concept in mind.
Corey: You describe Lab Rat as thought-provoking and humorous. Which of these elements was more challenging to weave into the game?
Gwen: Hands down, the humor. When someone gears up to play a puzzle game, they’re ready to think and solve problems. They’re in the right mindset for it. But comedy? It’s that unexpected ingredient that’s tricky to nail. Different people find different things funny, so crafting humor that resonates widely was quite an endeavor.
Corey: There’s a captivating flow to the way puzzles evolve in Lab Rat. How did you manage the game’s difficulty curve?
Gwen: I use discovery and mastery to keep players interested. Discovery introduces you to new things, while mastery allows you to use that newfound knowledge to tackle tougher challenges. I like introducing something fresh every few puzzles and want solutions to feel rewarding. Block-pushing games often lead to dead-ends without warning, which can be disheartening. So, in Lab Rat, players can undo moves and pull blocks—encouraging experimentation without risk, especially for those unaccustomed to this genre.
Corey: Developing a game with a small team requires juggling many roles. Which roles came naturally, and which caught you off guard?
Gwen: Programming, art, and animation felt like second nature—I’ve been in this ge for years and used the Unreal engine throughout my career. Voice acting, on the other hand, was a surprise. I’d never done it before Lab Rat, and it posed quite a challenge.
Corey: After playing Lab Rat, we noticed the credit screen was brimming with your name. Out of curiosity, how many characters did you voice?
Gwen: Ah, that made me chuckle. My programmer cheekily listed my name about 100 times in the credits. But seriously, other than my husband stepping in for one male voice line, I voiced all the characters. I recorded quite a bit of self-dialogue, combined with sound effects, to give each character their distinct sound.
Corey: If you could sit with someone playing for the first time, without giving anything away, what moment are you excited for them to reach?
Gwen: Honestly, I hope every thirty minutes offers something more interesting and unexpected than the last. I’m eager to find out if we’ve succeeded in that.
A huge thank you to Gwen for sharing insights into Lab Rat, indie development, and her amusing adventures in voice acting. Lab Rat is now available on Xbox One, optimized for Xbox Series X|S, where you’ll find yourself interacting with one of the most engaging—and unexpectedly funny—AI opponents you might ever face in gaming.
