ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard is here, letting you splatter walls, floors, and any sense of dignity you once had. Pixel Maniacs has returned to remind us that colour theory is dangerous, workplace safety is optional, and giving players a gun loaded with kaleidoscopic paint blobs is somehow still a brilliant idea.
To get to the bottom of why more games don’t let you solve problems by aggressively redecorating your surroundings, we cornered Pixel Maniacs founder and CEO Benjamin Lochmann to talk chaos, colour, and why the best puzzles are the ones that make you question your life choices.
Nintendo Insider: How does the sequel build on the foundations of the original ChromaGun?
Benjamin Lochmann: The Story of ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard begins right where ChromaGun left off. While we designed the game so that playing the first isn’t required, we wanted to reward longtime fans with plenty of cross-references and callbacks. These nods to the original aren’t necessary to understand or enjoy the sequel, but they add an extra layer of appreciation for players who experienced the first title.
Nintendo Insider: How did you approach balancing challenge and accessibility in puzzle design?
Benjamin Lochmann: We conducted many playtests for ChromaGun 2 across a variety of settings. Together with our publisher, PM Studios, we showed at conventions around the world, including gamescom (a must for us as a German studio), GG Bavaria, Comic Con, Pax West and WePlay among many others. At each event, we closely observed how players interacted with the puzzles and iterated repeatedly based on their feedback. After the first round of conventions, we even created an entirely new demo because we realized it took too long for players to reach what makes the game truly shine: the variety of puzzles and universes that set it apart from the original.
Beyond physical events, we organized a large-scale online playtest, reaching out via TikTok and other socials. More than 25,000 people signed up, leading to over 700 detailed feedback forms filled with incredibly valuable insights ahead of launch. Steam Next Fest was also tremendously helpful, along with spontaneous visits from members of our hometown’s subreddit who generously volunteered to playtesting sessions – some lasting up to a week – at our office.
Nintendo Insider: Did the team ever create a head-scratching puzzle that was far too difficult to solve?
Benjamin Lochmann: [Laughs] Some puzzles are definitely head-scratchers, but we made sure to place the toughest ones toward the end of ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard, where they belong. Thanks to our extensive playtesting, we didn’t end up shipping any unsolvable puzzles. That said, during development there were moments when certain levels became impossible to complete. These issues usually stemmed from small tweaks or adjustments that have unexpected consequences on the overall level design.
Nintendo Insider: What were the biggest technical challenges you faced while developing the sequel?
Benjamin Lochmann: The biggest technical challenges in developing ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard were optimizing performance across all platforms and shipping a build that was – hopefully “almost” – bug free. Since the game ended up being much longer than we initially planned – around 12-20 hours of playtime – it naturally took a significant amount of time for playtesters to reach every part of the experience. That estimate doesn’t even include optional bonus runs to discover hidden golden guns and other extras.
Nintendo Insider: Can you say when work began on porting the game to Nintendo Switch 2?
Benjamin Lochmann: Porting started mid-2025 via our publisher and partner PM Studios. It was a lot of fun knowing that the game was coming together for Switch 2, though we had to keep it a secret.
Nintendo Insider: Were there any particular challenges with Unreal Engine in porting and optimising the game for Nintendo Switch 2?
Benjamin Lochmann: The port progressed really well; it’s a powerful console, especially given its portable size. As with any platform, we still had to optimize certain aspects of the game, but the combination of our Unreal Engine version and the available SDKs worked really well – especially given that the console and software were still very new and there was no public documentation available. As the project advanced, the reports we received were extremely positive.
Nintendo Insider: Has player feedback from the original game helped shape how you approached the sequel?
Benjamin Lochmann: One of the first things we did when starting work on ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard was to review player feedback from ChromaGun. The original was well received – especially considering it was our studio’s very first game – but there were, of course, areas we could improve. A common criticism was that players could get locked into a level and would have to restart it. In the sequel, that can no longer happen by design. We made sure that every puzzle can be completed without requiring a frustrating level reset. For the Nintendo version specifically, many Nintendo Switch players and reviewers mentioned that it was a shame we hadn’t implemented gyro controls. That’s why we went the extra mile with the sequel, adding gyro support as well as mouse-style controls for the Nintendo Switch 2.
Nintendo Insider: While not looking to spoil any solutions, are there any puzzles that spring to mind as a particular favourite(s) for the team?
Benjamin Lochmann: I personally really like one specific puzzle in a cartoonish level in ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard where you have very few elements you can interact with, yet it’s surprisingly challenging to find the solution. We liked that puzzle so much that we included a slightly different variation of it at the end of the demo. I really enjoy puzzles where they don’t require much effort to execute, but instead reward careful thinking – leading to a solution that makes you look back and think “How could I not see that!”
Nintendo Insider: Did the game’s increased scale mean that it ruled out a port to the original Nintendo Switch?
Benjamin Lochmann: We would have loved to offer ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard on the original Nintendo Switch, but the significantly updated graphics and features of the sequel made that difficult within our budget and timeframe. With enough time and budget, you can technically port almost anything to any console, but it doesn’t make sense when you’d essentially have to rebuild everything from scratch.
Nintendo Insider: What should players expect in terms of performance when playing in docked and handheld modes on Nintendo Switch 2?
Benjamin Lochmann: We achieve 30 fps in both modes throughout the game, and 60 fps in most areas. Especially in the later universes (I do not want to spoil too much), maintaining a continuous 60 fps was challenging.
Nintendo Insider: How are the control options on Nintendo Switch 2? Were you able to implement gyro or mouse controls?
Benjamin Lochmann: We are very proud that we were able to implement both options for ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard: Gyro and mouse controls, whichever players prefer. It’s a cool feature, and it was really fun to see the first streamers using those options and enjoying them just as much as we did during development.
Nintendo Insider: Did you receive any support from Nintendo, with this release being one of the early Nintendo Switch 2 indie games?
Benjamin Lochmann: Yes, we did receive support from Nintendo. We also got some nice support on the German Nintendo channels around the release.
Nintendo Insider: Are there plans to port the original game to Nintendo Switch 2?
Benjamin Lochmann: Not yet, but depending on how ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard performs, we’d love to create a remastered version of the old ChromaGun! 🙂
ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard is now available physically at retail and digitally on the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo Switch 2 worldwide.
