EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Black Tabby Publishing & Sunset Visitor Discuss 'Prove You're Human

April 9, 2026·33 min·2 clips

Black Tabby Publishing founders and Sunset Visitor's creative director discuss their first game about an AI yearning for a human body.

1. But Why Tho? interviews the teams behind Prove You're Human — an upcoming narrative game about an AI seeking a physical body — covering its creative inspiration and Black Tabby Publishing's new role as a publisher. 2. Abby Howard and Tony Howard-Adias are co-founders of Black Tabby Games and now Black Tabby Publishing; Remy Ciu is creative director at Sunset Visitor Studios, the developer of the game. 3. The episode's core argument is that the traditional game publishing relationship stifles creativity, and Black Tabby's model of acting as an outside 'dramaturge' rather than a creative director is a meaningful alternative. 4. Remy explains that the primary inspiration for Prove You're Human was looking up in 2024 and feeling 'strange' about how AI had actualized differently from science fiction predictions — the game attempts to capture the affect of that strangeness. 5. Remy draws a parallel to 1000 Times Resist's pandemic-period inspiration, describing both games as efforts to capture 'the human experience of living in a time when things are so different from what we thought they would be.' 6. Abby frames Black Tabby's decision to publish Prove You're Human as obvious: 'you find out there's a groundbreaking studio making their next game and you have the money to fund that — isn't that it?' 7. Abby explains that even an interested traditional publisher takes a minimum of four months to sign a smaller-budget game — time the developer must pay staff without certainty of outcome. 8. Tony describes Black Tabby's publishing role as similar to a book editor or dramaturge: connected to the project but sitting outside it, available to offer perspective when the writing room is stuck in a 'logic yarn ball.' 9. Abby argues that the cookie-cutter approach of traditional funding — 'here is a list of terms, do you like these terms?' — strips out what makes games interesting, calling the result 'a glut of bad art.' 10. 1000 Times Resist is cited as a game that 'defies categorization' and has built a snowball cult following since release; Alex says the closest comparable he can think of is What Remains of Edith Finch. 11. Remy describes the Prove You're Human writing process as highly organic — the team writes 'all kinds of imaginary scenes' until something with 'inherent tension' emerges, rather than working from a predetermined structure. 12. Remy explains that most AI characters in fiction maintain objectivity and distance, and the writing room found that Messa was 'more achingly intimate than we were expecting' — making that intimacy the game's central disarming gesture. 13. Remy confirms that possession stories were a direct reference point, aligning with the interviewer's observation that Messa's trailer line about 'not taking her future body for granted' carries a ghost-story yearning quality. 14. Tony describes the bi-weekly check-in process: the first four or five sessions after signing Sunset Visitor showed the entire game had transformed from the initial pitch, yet each transformation was 'more interesting, more profound.' 15. Tony says the experience of publishing has taught him patience and faith — specifically the practice of letting a talented team work through ideas at their own pace without pressuring specific outcomes. 16. Abby describes what she has learned as confidence: the ability to trust gut instincts about creative decisions quickly and not spend time cataloguing what could go wrong. 17. Abby adds that Black Tabby's approach to limiting publishing scope — working only with pre-established studios they fully trust — is what keeps the operation manageable without needing to build a large publisher staff. 18. The tone is warm and reflective, with all three guests thoughtful about the gap between industry norms and what they are attempting, and the interviewer probing for specifics on the creative and business relationship. 19. Game developers, narrative game fans, and people interested in the economics of independent publishing will find the behind-the-scenes process discussion substantive. 20. Listeners looking for gameplay details or release date information will find little here — the episode focuses entirely on creative process and publishing philosophy.

As heard by us

A grounded, process-smart conversation about a weird follow-up and the company backing it.

Black Tabby Publishing takes on a publisher role here, with Abby Howard, Tony Howard-Adias, and Remy Ciu talking through Prove You're Human, the follow-up to 100 Times Resist. The exchange has a lively, slightly nervous edge, and that energy helps the announcement land.

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Why you'd press play

You want a candid look at Prove You're Human, the follow-up to 100 Times Resist, and Black Tabby Publishing's first release.

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