Cuba's next indie game is powered by fear, family, and the sun

April 11, 2026 - 16:05

It is, perhaps, the perfect time in Cuba to make a horror game. For indie developer Josuhe Pagliery, the escalating crises on the island—marked by daily blackouts lasting up to 20 hours, severe economic hardship, and a mass exodus of talent—have become the grim fuel for his latest project. His new game, Tasteless, is a low-poly 3D first-person horror experience born from this atmosphere of pervasive fear and scarcity.

Pagliery, who previously developed the acclaimed Saviorless under extreme difficulties, now faces even greater challenges. The value of the Cuban peso has plummeted, and basic necessities are scarce. Yet, he has chosen to channel this context into his art. "I realized that making this game, with this subject matter, in this particular moment and context possessed a unique value," Pagliery explained. He sees the project as an artistic record of what feels like "the end of an era in Cuba."

Tasteless is a narratively-driven game set in a Havana house based on Pagliery's childhood home. It follows a father attempting to resurrect his deceased son, a concept influenced by Pagliery's own experience of parenthood. He describes it as exploring fatherhood as both an emotional bond and a dynamic of "control and deformation," with parallels to Cuba's own strained relationship with its future.

To combat the relentless blackouts, Pagliery invested in a solar panel system for his home office, allowing him to work when the national grid fails. However, he notes this solution comes with guilt, as his team and family still suffer. He cites years of governmental neglect and the longstanding U.S. embargo as root causes of the infrastructure collapse, which has crippled not just power but water, gas, and cultural life.

Despite the dire environment, Pagliery is determined to complete Tasteless within two years, using his hard-won experience from his first game's eight-year development cycle. He frames the overwhelming adversity as creative fuel, striving to convert "all these multiple 'nos' into a creative 'yes'." For him, the horror of the game is inextricably linked to the reality of surviving in Cuba today.