It looks like the innocent and charming tale of Save me Mr. Tako! is much more than just a childish adventure.

According to developer Christophe Galati, the game concept spawned from his own frightening experience of staying in France during November 2015 – when coordinated terrorist attacks rocked the country. Instead of buckle from the trauma, it looks like he turned his fears into the game’s underlying message!

Check out the blurb below, courtesy of Destructoid.

“I lived in Paris during the attacks, and Tako-San absorbed a lot of my fears and concerns about the world we live in. I was designing the human city Sarona when it happened, so the tone of the game shifted at this point, it started to reference ideas like obscurantism and it became even more personal for me. The game is not only about the war between octopus and humans, but also the concept that humans are divided into kingdoms that are at war with each other, too. It’s not about finding out who the bad guy is, but more about how uniting and accepting people’s differences can make the world a better place. My goal was to create a universe and characters that will resonate with players, and perhaps help them overcome their struggles so they can live their own great adventure.”

UPDATE: The year of the attack was 2015. We have since amended the article and its headline to reflect this accurately.