With GRIS The trajectory of a small Spanish developer that inspired the world with Neva
Watercolor-like graphics, structured emotional lines … narrative and emotion conveyed without dialogue.
Can a game truly resonate with players without necessarily using words? Nomada Studio, a small indie game developer based in Barcelona, Spain, has answered that question with two titles: their debut , *GRIS*, released in 2018, and their second , *Neva* , released in 2024. Both feature minimal dialogue, both are short, and both have resonated with gamers worldwide.
The studio started at a farewell party
The genesis of Nomada Studios stemmed from a friend’s farewell party. At a party held before Adrián Cuevas temporarily moved to Ubisoft Montreal to work on Rainbow Six Siege, Cuevas and Roger Mendoza met illustrator Conrad Roset.
Rosette had long dreamed of expressing her art through the medium of games, and the two developers, who had been wanting to create independent games but lacked artistic skills, hit it off immediately.
Cuevas was a veteran developer with nearly seven years of experience at major studios like IO Interactive and Ubisoft, while Mendoza had also worked at Ubisoft Montreal for six years. However, both were eager to break away from the rigid, cog-like working styles of major studios and pursue more personal and creative projects.
Conrad Rosset, on the other hand, had a background in pure art, having worked in the advertising industry, including at Zara, as a freelance illustrator, exhibiting at galleries around the world, and publishing books. This meeting of a game developer and a pure artist led to the birth of Nomada Studio.
Greece (GRIS) , changing the world after three years of development
The first game, GRIS , was developed over a period of about three years. The Xbox team aimed for an experience that was a mix of Journey and Ori and the Blind Forest, with accessibility as a top priority, completely eliminating fail states. The no-death, no-game-over structure was a huge design challenge, but it allowed even people with little or no gaming experience to play the game. I was able to experience GRIS .
The team composition was also unique. According to Rosset, approximately 70% of the people involved in the development of Greece did not come from a purely gaming background. Creators from various fields, including illustration, animation, advertising, and film, were brought together. During development, they even collaborated with a psychologist to explore the narrative themes of the five stages of grief and depression. As a result, the gameplay itself was designed to reflect the protagonist’s inner state.
The music was composed by Spanish band Berlinist. Composer Marco Albano approached the music not as mere background music, but as an integral part of the game’s design. During puzzle sections, the music transitions naturally from tense to relaxed, while revisiting the same area adds new musical elements, creating an organic connection between the game and the music.
First released on Nintendo Switch and PC in December 2018 GRIS has since expanded its platform to iOS, PS4, PS5, Xbox, and Android , selling over 3.2 million copies . Even people who are not familiar with games I found and played GRIS , and Rosset said, “Even people who have never played a game before We enjoyed GRIS . We expanded our target audience to the existing game market,” he said. The game was also officially recognized for its artistic quality when it won the ‘Games for Impact’ category at The Game Awards in 2019.
Returning after evolving after 6 years Neva
After the success of their debut, Nomada Studios took their time. Their second game, Neva , didn’t arrive until October 2024. The most notable change was the introduction of a combat system. While this was a completely new element in GRIS , and fans were skeptical, the team had a clear rationale. Cuevas explained that combat was a natural choice, both narratively and in terms of gameplay.
Combat was inherently fitting for the story of Alba’s mission to protect and defend Neva, while also being a natural next step for gamers who first encountered the game with GRIS to experience a deeper challenge and the grammar of classic games.
At the heart of the story was a personal experience. Rosset Neva revealed that the core idea of the film was born from her own experience of becoming a parent for the first time during the pandemic. She described the situation of being a “sandwiched generation” who now has to take care of their parents who had been protecting them while caring for their children, and the fear of bringing a child into a world entangled with war, economic collapse, and epidemics. I created a game called Neva .
In Neva , the true protagonist is not the human Alba, but the wolf Neva. Gamers witness Neva’s growth from a young cub to a confident adult wolf, discovering her own identity. Nomada Studio’s approach was to convey all these emotions without a single word.
The reaction was enthusiastic. Neva won the Social Impact award at The Game Awards 2024. This marks Nomada Studio’s second win in the same category, following GRIS , a highly unusual feat for an indie studio. Critical acclaim continued for THE MAGIC RAIN, which won the Artistic Achievement award at the 2025 BAFTA Game Awards, and it currently has a positive 94% rating out of over 3,000 reviews on Steam.
Nomad’s philosophy: conveying emotion without words
Both works share a commonality: almost no dialogue. Cuevas explained his decision to omit dialogue because the combination of music, cinematics, artistic symbolism, and blank space allows each player to project their own thoughts and emotions into the story. This explains why Nomada describes his games as “experiences” rather than “playing.”
The visual philosophy is also distinct. While Rosset acknowledged that breaking away from the typical visual grammar of the gaming industry was in fact a very risky choice, he said that this distinctiveness is what makes Nomada stand out in the saturated gaming market. He cited “universal human emotions” as the reason Studio Ghibli’s works are universally loved. Just as concepts like the beauty of nature, belonging to a community, and the passage of time transcend culture and language, Neva also stated that it aims for such universality.
The decision to meet publisher Devolver Digital was also driven by “creative freedom.” Cuevas said he had met with several publishers, but Devolver was a particularly good fit, stating that the treatment of his work and creative freedom were the decisive factors in deciding on the contract.
In February 2026 Neva reunites with fans with the release of the paid DLC , “Neva: Prologue. ” This prequel-style content, which covers the first meeting between Alba and Neva, features a higher difficulty level than the main game, three new areas, and a new boss battle.
Two titles, two more Game Awards, and over 3.2 million copies sold. While the numbers alone are impressive, Nomada Studio isn’t a developer driven by grand scale or rapid expansion. Instead , they’ve chosen to design emotions, incorporating color and music into the game’s rules, and leaving room for gamers to interpret. While GRIS explored personal loss and recovery through the language of color, Neva expands themes of relationships and growth through interactive experiences.
Through these two works, Nomada Studio has overcome the prejudice that “artistic games cannot be popular” and proven that emotional appeal can also lead to industrial success. Importantly, they are not just a team that creates beautiful visuals, but a developer that designs structures that evoke emotion in players .
The studio itself has stated, “From the beginning, our goal has been to create games that inspire, move, and tell memorable stories.” And judging by their progress so far, that goal seems to be steadily being realized.
