As I prepped my Zoom background with a gorgeous wallpaper of She Dreams Elsewhere game art, I hadn’t really anticipated the kind of indie developer I’d be sitting down with. Oftentimes you’ll hear stories of conversations that turned sour because of personalities that couldn’t share the same room but the cameras turned on and Davionne Gooden and I were vibing.

For starters, Davionne is straight out of a Matrix movie — an empath with a penchant for thoughtfully observing the world around him, he appreciated my Zoom background and at times throughout our conversation acknowledged how much growth he continues to pursue as an indie developer.

Davionne’s workspace is emblematic of his personality as an indie developer, with a Captain America shield tucked away in a corner where vines drape over windows and doorways. We got to talking about his indie game She Dreams Elsewhere, a surreal RPG experience about dreams and the many ways they mirror reality. Catch our full conversation below and be sure to download the free demo to She Dreams Elsewhere available now on Steam.