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The game trailer opens to the sound of birds chirping as a red-banded warrior takes a step backward in a polygonal forest. Tall grass flattens beneath his bare feet as three rock monsters approach our hero. Moments later, our war-painted protagonist is seen running through a busy adobe marketplace. Later still, he navigates a rocky canyon, transforming into a bird as he glides across a river bed.

These first images of “Mulaka” stood out among the crowd of indie titles last summer during Nintendo’s Switch Nindies Showcase, debuting nearly two months after their latest console released. Influenced by tales from an indigenous group in northern Mexico, “Mulaka” would go on to join “The Mooseman” in a growing list of indie games released this year to be heavily influenced by international indigenous folktales.

‘Zelda, But Placed in Chihuahua’

“When we were starting out [in 2011], we started doing games for companies and...

Edgar Serrano didn’t expect to be at the forefront of his country’s gaming industry at 29 years old. He’s the co-founder and director of Lienzo, the first Mexican studio to put out its game on all three major consoles. The game in question — the gorgeous action-adventure title “Mulaka” — recently made its Nintendo Switch debut, and at last week’s “Building Bridges and Breaking Barriers” panel at Pax East, Serrano opened up about just how difficult that journey has been.

“We fantasized about getting into the industry one way or another,” he told Variety after the event, but his home state of Chihuahua is “literally in the middle of nowhere, industry-wise.” Determined to make their own opportunities, he and lead programmer Adolfo Rico founded Lienzo in 2012, getting their start through advergaming contracts and by developing games for museums.

It wasn’t until 2014 that they set their sights on the story that would become “Mulaka.