And the Dutch Game Award Goes too: โGrunn
Utrecht-based game developer Van den Boogaartโฃ has struck goldโ wiht grunn, โขhis โคfirst major game project, recently recognized with a Dutch Game Award. While residing in Utrecht,the inspiration for Grunn stems fromโค the northern Dutch โคvillage of โMiddelstum,where his father moved into the โformer rectory house in 2021.
Van den Boogaart found the village’s quietโ atmosphere and darkness especially stimulating. Frequent โvisits, often โspent gardening and exploring,โ fueled his creative process. He notes the village’s unique character โคand beauty โคas โฃkey โคinfluences. Players familiar with Middelstum will โฃrecognize landmarks within the game, โincluding the St.โ Hippolytus Church, the rectoryโฃ itself, and the โขlocal gas station – though Van โฃden Boogaart admits to โtaking some creativeโ liberties with their placement, ensuring all elements of the village are represented in โa fantastical form.
Prior to Grunn, Van den Boogaart spent over ten years inโข theโค games industry as part of the โฃSokpopโ collective. The group previously released smaller games onโ a monthly subscription โbasis, โa practiceโค they โdiscontinued a few years ago, paving the way for Van den Boogaart to dedicate himself to Grunn.
Currently availableโ on PC, Van den Boogaart hopes to expand Grunn’s reachโข to other platforms in theโฃ future. The game hasโ already garnered international attention, with players worldwide enjoying the virtualโฃ gardening โขexperience set in a digitalโค Groningen.โค While theโ majority โคof sales are in America, Grunn has also been localized for audiences in โฃSpain, Japan,โค and china.
Despite considering a dedicated Groningen translation, Van den Boogaart acknowledges the potential โคlimitations in audience size and translation costs, suggesting theโ game will likely remain primarily in Dutch.
Looking ahead, โVan den boogaart isโข already at work on new projects, including a game set onโค the island of Schiermonnikoog, a location he personally โenjoys visiting. He anticipates โคthis next endeavor will require meaningful progress time.
