Running and Gunning With ChainStaff’s Nathan Fouts

Few indie developers embrace chaotic creativity quite like Nathan Fouts, the mind behind Mommy’s Best Games. Known for cult favorites like Weapon of Choice and Serious Sam Double D, Fouts has spent years pushing the boundaries of explosive, over-the-top action. We sat down with him to talk about his creative process, the evolution of indie development, and what drives his singular approach to game design.

Tech-Gaming: Let’s talk about the launch campaign for Bumpy Grumpy, which claimed to be a long-lost arcade title. How long did you keep the gag going?

Nathan Fouts: What gag? I acquired Bumpy Grumpy and all IP from Occidental Designs fair and square. Are Sternmidden or Fushnell’s kids telling you I cheated them? That’s total crap. I have the documents to prove the sale! My buddy Alex is hoping to be a Notary Public and he oversaw the whole thing.

I’m sure you’ll remember Occidental Designs from the early 80s. Not only did they do Bumpy Grumpy, but they also had some minor hits like Rip n Tear, Xordian Knot, and of course, Hellbombers. I have all the IP now and I’m thinking about porting more of their games.

T-G: I think I just got Mandela Effected. (laughs). You’ve deviated with Bumpy Grumpy, Pig Eat Ball, and a pair of shmups, but ChainStaff brings you back to the run-and-gun genre. What’s the reason behind the return?

NF: When you’re a “working indie” like me, your next game may always be your last! I figured let’s kick some more ass with a rootin’ tootin’ shootin’ adventure.

T-G: Building on that, you haven’t released a full-fledged sequel (I’m not counting the DX re-releases). What’s behind this decision?

NF: The Japanese developer Treasure, who made some all-time hits like Gunstar Heroes and Radiant Silvergun used to say they’d never make a sequel (they kinda have now, let’s ignore that). I really like that idea, that if you have a bunch of original ideas let’s keep making new cool stuff! It a nice lofty ideal. But then again if Shoot 2UP sounded good, I could do that too. I love Shoot 1UP! It’d be fun to make new gameplay and enemies in that universe.

T-G: ChainStaff’s visual style reminds me of Roger Dean, the English artist who did album covers for Yes and Asia. He’s got to be an inspiration, right?

NF: You nailed it! I love Dean’s art, but honestly, there’s dozens more inspirations going into the game. I adore 70s and 80s art, the book covers, the albums, they are so colorful and packed with weird details and wild designs. Artists like Bruce Pennington, Michael Whelan, Keith Parkinson, Jeff Easely, Patrick Woodroffe, Bernie Wrightson, Julie Bell and many more inspire the art for the game.

T-G: Arguably, the game has one of the more rocking soundtracks of late, with plenty of guitar shredding that sets a good pace for the action. Why do you think metal has fallen out of style, save for Arc System Works?

NF: Thanks for the compliments on the soundtrack! The composer is Deon van Heerden who did the OSTs for Broforce and Warhammer 40k: Shootas Blood & Teef, and he’s really going crazy on the ChainStaff soundtrack. We actually have a dynamic system in the game too! There’s a heavy track for every level, but also a down-tempo track which has different instrumentation, and the game switches between them based on the action in the level. 

As for other games, yeah, Guilty Gear and Blazblue soundtracks are amazing! But outside of Arc System Works there’s a handful of other games with heavy metal and rock that I like. I recently played Valfaris Metal Therion which is a great shmup/action game. And then of course there’s Metal Hellsinger which focuses on music itself. But you’re right it’s not super common, and I’m not sure why. But when a game has a rockin’ soundtrack it’s always a treat.

T-G: The Chainstaff is a remarkably versatile tool, that can be a weapon, a grappling hook, ladder, and even a shield. Are there any uses that didn’t make it in as your approach launch?

NF: I’m really proud of the design of the gameplay I did for the ChainStaff itself. You can swing, spear, bridge, climb, shield with it, and even move it around like a cherry-picker! 

What’s on the cutting room floor? Well I did have a whip attack in there, Castlevania style, but I ended up cutting it since it was a bit overpowered. But I’m planning on adding it back in via a cheat menu. If you want to unlock the whip power, join my newsletter where I’ll be sending out cheat codes! 

T-G: There seems to be a morality system connected to power-ups. I worried Captain Knox wouldn’t be happy if I ate another heart instead of performing a rescue in the demo. Can you elaborate on this system?

NF: We’re putting a lot of effort into the story telling and direction for the morality system in the game. In the game you can decide to rescue soldiers and pick upgrades from the human tech tree. Or you can harvest their organs and basically turn evil and pick upgrades from the alien tech tree. There’s actually a thematic design direction behind each tech tree as well.

In the demo we increased the pace of this system. As soon as you kill one of your fellow soldiers, instead of rescuing them, then Captain Knox alerts all other soldiers that you’re evil and they start shooting at you. 

In the final game the player will get to play about 3 action levels and sort of “settle in” to their choices. Along the way the helicopter pilot (he’s not in the demo currently) will give you direction on if you’re being good or evil. The story itself will reflect your moral choices too. Eventually through helping or killing soldiers you’ll end up getting 1 of 3 unique endings.

T-G: The demo delivers a good taste of Chainstaff. How many stages are planned for the final game?

NF: There will be 10 big levels with all unique enemies. Most levels have at least one alternate branch for exploration and some even have 2 branches!

T-G: Null Games was due to publish ChainStaff but dissolved a few months ago. Any new info you can share with us about that?

NF: I can’t share what happened internally but can only say I own the IP, and I will be publishing ChainStaff in early 2026 through my own company Mommy’s Best Games Inc.

T-G: What are the upsides and downsides of self-marketing? 

NF: Downside for indie marketing is not having enough money for a Super Bowl ad. An upside is it feels cool when you think of a neat marketing idea and it takes off and people like it. Such as… join my newsletter! If you join the newsletter, I sometimes do giveaways, and you’ll get a chance to play the Beta of the game and help shape how the game turns out! And if you wanna chat about games directly with myself and other run n gun fans join my Discord. Finally, please wishlist ChainStaff on your favorite console platform or on Steam. And thank you for all the support and for playing my weird games!

T-G: You know I wouldn’t allow all that if you were a corporate publisher, right? (laughs) Thanks, Nathan!