Chris Bergman, CEO of Gylee Games. A Cincinnati native and serial entrepreneur, his lifelong love of video games led him to form Gylee Games in 2019. Chris Bergman modeled the characters, wrote, directed, designed, and composed Gylee Games’ first upcoming release, Ra Ra Boom. Previously CEO of ChoreMonster, another company he co-founded in 2011 which was eventually acquired by Verizon after reaching four million active users and being part of the Disney Accelerator program. Bergman’s portfolio doesn’t stop there, having had a hand in Wiseacre Digital, Metlife Digital Accelerator, Warp World, Cincinnati comic shop Cosmic Gorilla, and The Fund.
Once I learned I was going to be able to interview you, it’s as if the floodgates opened: Gylee Games has a podcast, webcomic, and of course, Ra Ra BOOM is coming out in August 2025. There is so much self expression at Gylee, I was reminded of Game Informer, another Midwest gaming staple. Is this all part of the process? What should readers know about Gylee Games?
Hah! Thanks! Gylee Games is a studio based in Cincinnati, OH, and was started by myself and industry vet Denver Coulson. The name Gylee is taken from my two kids’ names: Guy and Lee. We focus on character-driven action games for PC and Console.
In particular, your podcast shines a light on stories inside and outside the industry, including highlighting some of the workers at Gylee Games. Do you consider these conversations important to have not just for your staff, but for your millions of listeners as well?
It’s a good excuse to get us sitting down and talking to each other regularly. Our team really enjoys each other’s company, and I love getting to interview other friends of ours. Also, the games industry is such a black box. When we started, there was so much information that we didn’t know. So, I wanted a place where we could share some of that information and experience to everyone. Also, Kim is ridiculously entertaining.
On the podcast, it comes up occasionally how Gylee Games is poised to be a sustainable studio with character driven content, stylistic art, and good stories so that games like Ra Ra BOOM will be just as exciting four years from now. The games industry is in such a strange place right now, would you like to expand on that and talk about how you’ll be continuing this trend with what comes after Ra Ra BOOM?
One of the very early decisions we made at Gylee is that we’re a studio creating our OWN worlds. We’re not beholden to licensing or other people controlling our destiny. That was really important. To do that well, though, requires a real dedication to excellence. To characters that connect. To visuals that really shine. We’re already working on two other games that continue the “character first” approach.
Getting into Ra Ra BOOM specifically, can you talk about how this concept and these characters came to fruition? It’s really cool seeing some of the extensions of “women’s sports + weapons” (Ren is almost in a hockey getup, Aris would not be out of place on a tennis court, etc.) aesthetic. As much as video games visit a “school” setting, we often don’t get much on cheerleaders, this coming from a person who was recently playing Project Justice in Capcom Fighting Collection 2.
Rival Schools is such a great game! I’m a huge fan of all the Capcom fighting games. It’s interesting how it all came to be. I wanted to tell a coming-of-age story, and so, what better place to do that than in a school setting. At least at the start of the game. Every single character in Ra Ra grows in some way. They learn about themselves and their own emotions. This all came from my own challenges in mental health and maturing emotionally. Thanks therapy! Also, the need for emotional support from friends. Those people that can lift you up when you’re down.
On the same note, these characters are said to be “ninja cheerleaders from outer space”. In my preview, I can verify the “cheerleader from outer space” part, but can you clarify the “ninja” part? In the preview I played, their concepts of Earth seemed to be fuzzy at best, so is this a concept that’s been lost to time?
They kick so much robot butt! It’s an easy way to express how badass they all are. They’ve been training their whole life for a robot invasion.
I was surprised when I was knocked out, only to receive an extremely powerful shield that does not just prevent damage but reflects it at enemies (even bosses!). Was this an intentional accessibility feature or could you explain the philosophy behind this otherwise?
We want players to feel powerful regardless of their skill level. We noticed early on through playtesting that without those invincibility frames, players would easily get caught in a damage loop, and we wanted to prevent that.
In the preview build, there is a “homework” goal that didn’t change. What can players expect from being assigned “homework”?
Homework are extra missions per level that will increase your score and level grade, which allows for a ton of replayability. There are some fun missions in there! For example, there’s a hard mode assignment that doubles the difficulty!
In playing the preview and researching Ra Ra BOOM, it seems the story will play a large part in this game. While I saw what felt like a glimpse into that, will players be able to look forward to finding a new complex and awesome character to call their favorite?
The story is super important to the game. We set out to create a very compelling narrative in a beat ‘em up, which was a difficult task. I think we succeeded in creating four playable characters that our audience will absolutely fall in love with.
While there do seem to be some minor differences between characters like speed, Vee, for instance, can block enemy fire when she herself is shooting enemies due to her shield. Should players look for any more interesting differences between the cheerleaders?
We made an intentional decision to keep the characters similar enough that you don’t feel like you’re missing out if you happen to pick a different character than your favorite, but slightly different so there can be preferences. The story is about all of them working together as a team, so you’ll notice that we try to push players into using all the characters.
My last beat-em-up was probably Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle: Turtles in Time, and I know the genre has moved forward with entries like Streets of Rage 4 and River City Girls 2, but enemies in Ra Ra BOOM seem to be very challenging from the get-go. I know there is an upgrade system, so is this intentional, or is it balanced for a specific amount of players?
You’ll find the upgrade system will help immensely in the more challenging aspects of the game. While it may seem difficult at the start, with just a few upgrades you’ll feel unstoppable! Also, the game does balance based on the number of players on screen.
Editor’s Note: I erroneously said Rival Schools when I meant Project Justice in my interview question.
