Under the Stairs is an award-winning indie game development studio that creates systemic games with a roguelike flavour and a distinct 2D art style.
Vladimir Bogdanic
Director
Used to do a lot of DJing but eventually turned to game dev to put all of his previous experience into a singular mission.
Filip Neduk
Game Designer
Filip is a multi-talented game designer and has been releasing board games for the past 15 years.
Domagoj Bilušić
Artist
Taught the Ins and outs of art by his art teacher grandma, Domagoj takes charge of all our visual aspects and marketing.
Brigita Krklec
Project Manager
Brigita is our Excel expert, taking care of task management and keeping everything running smoothly.
Nikola Zeman
Lead Programmer
Nikola shipped multiple games as a solo developer and now leads the programming efforts.
Franko Žarković
Programmer
A keen eye for both game design and UX, Franko makes sure that everything looks and feels right.
Dorotea Đurić Brajković
Programmer
A game programmer skilled in Unity and C# whose background in philology and six languages brings a creative, international perspective to the team.
Innovation
We believe that every game you play from us should bring something new to the table. There needs to be a unique spin on a mechanic you’ve seen before or a brand-new system that excites you. We love systemic games and want to create experiences that capture your imagination and reward curiosity while also respecting your time.
Art
In today’s AI driven world, we feel it’s more important than ever to leave a personal imprint on the games we make. We believe that games are a beautiful multifaceted art form. All our games have artwork made by real people with a clear vision and respect for this art form. We want to leave a strong visual impression that makes you remember why you love video games.
Agency
We are small by choice, every person on our team has the right to champion their ideas and their vision of what the final product needs to be. Everyone can make creative decisions around their field of expertise. This means that the product is a result of everyone’s creative input and values.
Freedom
We don’t identify our lives with our work, we have a strict no crunch policy and believe that if games are fun then making them should be fun as well. It is entirely possible to create engaging and lasting experiences without breaking the people that make them and that’s precisely why we foster a healthy work life balance.
An idea is born
2014
By random chance a couple of us started a local game dev course and at the end of that course a game jam was held. We created a simple black and white prototype with a single screen level and won the best game design award. Several months passed and eventually a team was formed and in 2015 we began working on our first game – Eyes in the Dark.
Bootstrapping
2016
We bootstrapped the company and only worked twice per week while focusing on our regular jobs on the side. Eventually we ran out of money and managed to secure a contract job working on a much larger project.
UTS is formed
2017
Thanks to several companies and investors we opened our first LLC in the UK and raised our first seed round. This was enough to allow us to keep going for a while and to create a very solid vertical slice for Eyes in the Dark. After a year or so we had to juggle between other projects and sadly the contracted game never came to fruition, we learned a lot from the experience and managed to keep going with a smaller team.
Madness
2020
Eyes in the Dark was shaping up nicely and we intensified our search for publishers. Then COVID hit and put a stop to a lot of our progress. Then an earthquake shut down our new office and put everything on hold for a while longer
Publishing
2021
Finally, after a long search and negotiation process, we signed a publishing deal at the start of 2021. A collaboration with Gearbox Publishing was established and we went into full on production mode.
Eyes in the Dark
2022
A mix of different feelings, after so many years of trying to get our first game out there we did it. Loads of reviews, awards and positive feedback come out but sales numbers dwindle. We scramble to start work on the next project while still trying to keep this one going.
Turmoil
2024
Over the past couple of years several key people leave the studio but the work on additional games continues. Just as we’re about to run out of funding a large grant is secured and with several new key hires we hit our stride once again.
Rebirth
2025
We hire new people, announce new games and commit to a new direction in which we become more outward focused and offer collaboration with new fans as a default.
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