Next week, independent Swedish developer Simogo will launch the Simogo Legacy Collection worldwide for Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and Steam. Ahead of its launch, I’ve been playing the collection on all platforms and I’ve also had a chance to chat with Simogo’s Simon Flesser about the developer’s journey, preservation, working with Nintendo, coffee, and much more.
Nintendo Insider: For those who don’t know, tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do at Simogo.
Simon Flesser: I’m Simon, one of the two co-founders of Simogo. I do a little bit of everything on the games, including directing, art, writing and such.
Nintendo Insider: While most Switch owners likely know you because of Sayonara Wild Hearts and Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, those weren’t your first projects on a Nintendo platform. Tell us a little bit about how you ended up bringing Year Walk to Wii U.
Simon Flesser: Nintendo were looking for smaller western projects to publish in Japan, and so they asked us if we would be interested in bringing Year Walk to Wii U. We thought it was a cool opportunity and very interesting to work together with Nintendo on the project, and it was fun to rethink the game as a Wii U game, tailored for the Wii U GamePad.
Nintendo Insider: As someone who has followed Simogo for over a decade, I was ecstatic when the Simogo Legacy Collection was announced. You’ve obviously been teasing it for a while now through random games showcased on Nintendo Switch and Switch Lite. When did this project begin?
Simon Flesser: In early 2025.
Nintendo Insider: How did you decide what platforms to bring the Simogo Legacy Collection to at launch?
Simon Flesser: It was a combination of where we thought the game would make most sense input-wise, and on which platform we’ve seen our previous two games found its audience.
Nintendo Insider: As someone who has already played these games before, I’m a bit baffled by the low asking price for all the games. That isn’t even taking into account the bonus content and general quality. How did you arrive at this price point?
Simon Flesser: We wanted it to be a low barrier for people that hadn’t played our games before, and also to not ask too much for people who have already played these games. 15 bucks felt like a fair price point.
Nintendo Insider: How did it feel for you revisiting these games even before starting work on each of them for Switch and PC platforms?
Simon Flesser: I’ve played them a lot over the years, especially SPL-T, which I still play regularly. The temptation to fix and change stuff and polish them up was big, but in the end we wanted the collection to feel as true as possible to the original experiences.
Nintendo Insider: Are there any plans to do a physical release?
Simon Flesser: No such plans now, I’m afraid.
Nintendo Insider: It is great seeing a native Switch 2 version. Can you comment on when work began for that specific version?
Simon Flesser: It also began in early 2025.
Nintendo Insider: Have you had dev support from Nintendo in any way for the Switch and Switch 2 versions?
Simon Flesser: We were already quite familiar with Switch 1 development, so it was mostly just getting some help on figuring out some early Switch 2 Edition stuff.
Nintendo Insider: How has it been working with the mouse controls on Joy-Con 2 controllers compared to the work you already did on PC?
Simon Flesser: Some things differed, like having the motion controls feel seamless against the mouse controls.
We also tried to match the sensitivity settings as close as possible to the ones in the home menu, so people would feel familiar.
Nintendo Insider: The Simogo Legacy Collection feels right at home on a Switch and Switch 2 when playing handheld. Did you try implementing traditional button controls as an option? I know it would be a lot of work, but I’m curious.
Simon Flesser: We talked about it early on, and we do have some QoL button controls that work simultaneously with the other control options, but in the end we decided that we wanted the games to all stick to system-wide controls, that would emulate the original touch controls in different ways.
Nintendo Insider: Were you always planning on including all your iOS games alongside extras or did scope increase as you started to work on each game?
Simon Flesser: We wanted to include extras early on, but we decided that their inclusion would be dependent on if we would be able to follow the rigid schedule we had set for ourselves.
Because everything went so smoothly, we were actually able to finish earlier than we had planned, and so we had additional time to put in these bonuses.
Nintendo Insider: In addition to the games, you also included prototypes and tangential media for each game when available. How much work went into making these prototypes playable as they were on modern systems?
Simon Flesser: Because they were so small and self-contained, it was fairly manageable, but it actually took a lot of time finding the files, as well as figuring out which versions of the prototypes that were the most appropriate to include.
Nintendo Insider: Who came up with the idea to present all the games like a virtual tablet screen with apps? Can you go into some details for when you started working on the final wrapper for the games?
Simon Flesser: As we decided on the controls early, I think it just came naturally. It did take some time to find the most appropriate way to rotate the device. At first, we had a more fixed way of rotating, but somewhere along the way we figured that the rotation of the screen would also be able to simulate accelerator based puzzles and elements, and so this more free way of rotating the device was invented.
Nintendo Insider: It feels crazy to me to be able to finally replay Device 6 with smooth performance on basically every Switch and PC handheld I own. What sort of challenges did you run into with each game? Go into as much detail as you can for specific games here.
Simon Flesser: The biggest challenge is that a lot of these games were “based” on each other. We developed and used the same tech and once we put these games side by side to each other, they would get “confused” by each other as they are using the same functions. Another big challenge in this project was being able to switch between resolutions and aspect ratios on the fly, without restarting the games, as they were designed to start at their preferred resolution and never change. We had to do a lot of manual labour and testing to achieve it.
Nintendo Insider: I assume it took more work to get the older titles like Kosmo Spin and Bumpy Road working well on Switch 1/2 and Steam?
Simon Flesser: The biggest challenge was SPL-T, as its art is very native pixel based, and doesn’t scale nicely. Previously I had made pixel art, including fonts, for two different resolutions for SPL-T, but now I actually had to go back and remake the art for the entire game for three more sizes, as players can change resolutions as they please on PC.
Nintendo Insider: I own the Year Walk soundtrack CD. Are you planning on doing any re-releases or physical soundtrack releases for games in the Simogo Legacy Collection?
Simon Flesser: Nice! CDs are making a comeback, aren’t they? But sorry to say, nope, no new soundtrack plans.
Nintendo Insider: I adore this collection, but the elegant UI and the amazing menu music are both highlights. Will you be releasing the music from the collection on streaming services or Steam?
Simon Flesser: We had been discussing it, but we haven’t figured out a good way to do it. A lot of the appeal in the collection is that it seamlessly goes to the next random track on beat, and we aren’t sure what the best way would be. If there is a jazz band that is interested in making live cover versions of these versions, we think that would be a very cool way to release it. Please contact us if you are interested, haha!
Nintendo Insider: When working on the Extras section with prototypes, art, and music, I’m glad to have specifically had so much unused music and demos. Will you ever release more of this in the future or did you release everything you had here?
Simon Flesser: We did curate it quite thoroughly, as we didn’t want it to feel like a file dump. A lot of the tracks we had lying around were very unfinished, barely resembling music.
Nintendo Insider: While not directly related to the Simogo Legacy Collection, I’m curious about the Heartbeats, Dreams and Laser Eyes: 15 Years of Simogo project. Chris Schilling is literally the only person I’d want for something like this aside from both of you. How has it been working with him and the team?
Simon Flesser: It’s been nice. He has been interviewing us and people who we have worked with, and it’s been interesting for us to have a reason to try and remember and look back on these 15 years.
Nintendo Insider: Alongside the Simogo Legacy Collection, you have also been working on Sayonara Wild Hearts and Lorelei Switch 2 Editions. What can players expect in those when it comes to resolution and frame rate + controls if you can say.
Simon Flesser: I can at the very least confirm that they can expect 4K resolutions and 120fps in these games, just like the Switch 2 Edition of Simogo Legacy Collection.
Nintendo Insider: Speaking of Sayonara Wild Hearts, I’m glad to see it return to iOS in 2026. Are there any plans to bring Lorelei to iOS as well? I feel like the controls would translate over well.
Simon Flesser: Sorry! No iOS plans for Lorelei at the moment.
Nintendo Insider: Which is your personal favorite Simogo game and why?
Simon Flesser: SPL-T, because I still don’t fully understand it. I still play it regularly. I also quite like Lorelei and the Laser Eyes. I know Gordon’s favourite is DEVICE 6, as he thinks it challenges what games can be.
Nintendo Insider: How do you like your coffee? If you don’t like coffee, what is your favorite beverage?
Simon Flesser: Black drip coffee if I have it at home or in the office. But I also enjoy a cappuccino every now and then, when I am out and about.
Simogo Legacy Collection launches on December 2 worldwide for Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, and Steam.
