School Daze

She Dreams Elsewhere began as a high-school project, which Gooden originally envisioned would take five months to develop, although at the same time he was also invested in theatre, photography and filmmaking. The game only really became a full-time endeavour in 2018, through “bootstrapping”, with friends pitching in every now and again. Although the game is set to launch on Xbox Game Pass, he clarifies this doesn’t provide development cashflow: “It’s basically a carrot on a stick – you’ve got to ship the game first, that’s pretty much how it works.” Investment fund Kowloon Nights has proved more helpful – Gooden made an application at the end of 2020, which was finalised in February, ensuring funding all the way to completion.