This week I caught up with Jelena Rajčević, the brains behind detective puzzle game company Peculiar Pond. We discussed the market for puzzle games in Croatia, her favourite play-at-home experiences, and the exciting new project she is working on.
(Meet Your Maker is an interview series featuring creators of puzzle and mystery games and experiences from across the globe. We aim to shine a spotlight on both established creators and those who are just setting out on their journey. Stay tuned for more interviews coming soon.)
Please can you begin by introducing yourself?
My name is Jelena Rajčević and I live in Zagreb, Croatia, with my partner and our 2-year-old daughter. I’m an architect by profession and I’ve been self-employed for the last 5 years. During this, I had the freedom to organise my work time and used some of it for game design. It’s a bit more challenging now as I recently took a full-time job working in technical theatre production. But I still manage to put aside a few late evenings per week for making and playing games.
What is Peculiar Pond and how did it come about?
Peculiar Pond is a mini realisation of my long-held dream of creating games. During the pandemic, I had less work than usual, so I created Ziggy Wonder, a hybrid tabletop/digital puzzle game inspired by point-and-click adventure games. After some initial interest from a few publishers, they backed out due to the game production cost. I decided to make something simple to produce and ship, so I created the games currently on offer. Ziggy is now waiting for some better times or a simpler remake that I could publish on my own.
I love the name! What inspired it?
I really like both the sound and the meaning of the English word ‘peculiar’. The phrase Peculiar Pond came naturally to me. It represents a colourful source of ideas, from which we draw our puzzles and mysteries. In each of our games, we try to offer a little twist in the game mechanics, an unusual puzzle, a narrative with some “a-ha” or “ha-ha” moments — something that the players can remember us by.
Can you talk a little about the games you have released so far?
I have two games available, Murder on Canvas and Requiem for a Double. Both of them are detective puzzle games. Each arrives in an envelope containing evidence and suspect interviews. They are both accompanied by a website that features a crime scene, an answers submission page, hints, the final questionnaire, and some other digital elements needed for the gameplay. The narratives were inspired by Agatha Christie’s novels and players take on the role of Detective Vanja Petelin, who is a Slovenian version of Hercule Poirot.
I believe that Murder on Canvas is slightly easier in the puzzle aspect, so it could be a better start for less experienced players. Requiem for a Double has a few multimedia surprises that some players might appreciate.
How long does it take to create one of your games?
It took around 8 months of designing in my spare time to finish each game, but this time partially overlapped across the two. I start with the initial storyline and character relationships. I think it’s very important to have puzzles that logically fit the story in a narrative game, so I create the puzzles taking this into consideration. In my opinion, there should always be a reason why somebody would hide information in the form of a puzzle, and the solution should ideally participate in the gradual reveal of the mystery. When I have a more or less clear vision of the narrative and the puzzles, I start to design and produce the needed elements. Finally, when the first version of the game is finished, I playtest it with different types of players and make tweaks and corrections based on feedback.
Your games are marketed as ‘detective puzzle games’. Was it important to have a strong puzzle element in the gameplay?
Yes! I enjoy both detective and puzzle games, so I wanted to make a game that features each genre equally. Figuring out the culprit is a sort of meta-puzzle that you solve in the end, and it’s the element that pulls all of the puzzles together.
You use a specific question-and-answer mechanic in each of these games. Is there a particular reason you opted for this approach?
The question-and-answer mechanic is inspired by detective games like Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, but I wanted to do something a bit simpler, so I put only three final questions in the end. Even if you don’t figure out all of the details of the crime yourself, you can try to deduce its main elements. You get a detailed solution after completing the final questionnaire, of course.
I wanted to say how much I loved the music video from Requiem for a Double. Did you create that yourself?
Yes, I made the video having done a couple of music videos and simple animations before. I love the concept of putting puzzles in different media, and I’ve had the idea of using a music video in a game for some time. This was an opportunity to do it.
What would you change if you could start over?
I would love to have had an artist to make my games more visually appealing. But since I didn’t really have a budget to spend on the game design, unfortunately, it wasn’t an option.
Was the intention always to sell outside of Croatia or have you considered translating the games for sale there?
Croatia is a small country, so the game market is, naturally, small. Since some of the puzzles in my games are language-dependent I decided it would be too complicated to create a Croatian version of the game for a limited number of potential buyers. Also, the majority of Croatians understand English well enough and are used to playing games in English.
What is the market like for puzzle/murder mystery games in Croatia?
The interest in board games and escape rooms is growing in Croatia, but there still isn’t a big tabletop puzzle/murder mystery game fanbase here. Players are familiar with Unlock, Exit, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, Chronicles of Crime, and other games published by larger companies. Few people here know about indie creators like the ones presented on your site. The problem with most puzzle games is that you can only play them once. I think that for most Croatian players, these games are a bit too pricey, especially if you include the shipping cost.
What are the challenges and rewards of running a puzzle game business?
Peculiar Pond is my side project. I don’t have enough time or knowledge to promote my games as I should, and consequently, it’s not very profitable. But since it was always imagined as a passion project, I plan my projects in a way that I don’t have large expenses either. I’d say that my biggest challenge at the moment is following all the Croatian and European legal provisions in producing and selling games. And the biggest reward is every piece of positive feedback from a player. Also, I simply enjoy creating games, and this process is a reward in itself.
What are you working on currently?
We are working on an outdoor puzzle game named Zagreb is out of tune that will be played in Zagreb city centre with an app. I say we because, unlike the others, this one is a team project. I’ve been to a lot of great escape rooms, but the outdoor games I’ve played so far are not nearly as exciting. We wanted to challenge ourselves by making an outdoor game that delivers on both puzzles and narrative. We also wanted to create something approachable for beginners but interesting enough for enthusiasts.
The game is in its playtest phase, and we’re very happy with the first players’ impressions. It should be out by springtime, so if you’re ever in Zagreb, check it out!
Do you have time to play any mystery/puzzle games yourself?
There was a time when I didn’t understand how someone could have a ‘shelf of shame’, but I’ve got a small collection of unplayed games piling up now. Of the ones I’ve played, I have to mention The Morrison Game Factory (PostCurious, Lauren Bello) and The Medusa Report (Diorama). Both brilliantly intertwine puzzles with the story.
The latest murder mystery game I’ve played is The Rise of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games). It really intrigued me with its original mechanics as a PC game. The fabulous Dani and Bill of the Solve This Murder podcast, as well as Marcus and Nathan of Aurelius Whitlock’s Murder Museum, were involved in this game. It’s absolutely wonderful!
Any last words?
I would love to collaborate with other game designers, so if anybody is looking for another brain in their project, please reach out by email or on social media.
Thank you!
Creators like Jelena are a big part of why I started the Meet Your Maker series. There are so many talented game designers out there with little to no visibility and it is a real shame.
If you like the sound of Peculiar Pond and the games Jelena has to offer, please check out the website below and follow her on social media for updates. And if you are a game creator who would like to collaborate, I’m sure Jelena would love to hear from you. Until next time!
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