Hey Misfits. Hope you’re unwell!
Today we’re kicking off a new blog series where we’ll share behind-the-scenes stories and insights from the making of Into The Unwell.
First, we’re looking back at a project that never made it to release but still helped shape the look and feel of Into The Unwell. That game was No Country for Old Hen: a creative sketchbook that birthed the art style we use today.
But before we dive into today’s post, we want to reassure everyone that development is moving full steam ahead. The team is working hard on new features and improvements, and we can’t wait to share them with you in the next Closed Beta. Thank you for your patience!
Falling down the rubber hose rabbit hole
Our story starts with obsession. Art Director Felix Waubert De Puiseau got hooked on Cuphead from Studio MDHR and the two brothers who somehow created a masterpiece out of nowhere. Felix fell further into the era when animation was invented, between the 1920s and the 1930s, a time when nothing followed the rules and everything was slightly unhinged.
Silent-era Charlie Chaplin vibes and Great Depression angst. All of it became a blueprint for something new. A 3D game with the energy of a rubber-hose cartoon. No Country For Old Hen was that experiment: a way to see if the weird charm of early animation could survive in modern 3D.
The main character? A cowboy-inspired rooster who could no longer crow. Stripped of his confidence, he left the farm to embark on a journey to find it again. Gameplay ideas shifted constantly. Sometimes it was a puzzle game like The Lost Vikings, sometimes a small-arena boss battler like Cuphead. But the rooster wasn’t new. He started life as a Dota 2 courier, a violin-playing bird who flew in a tiny rowing boat.
The rooster
The social media post that blew up
At one point, Felix shared a few GIFs on X (formerly known as Twitter). The first few barely made a ripple, and then the last one blew up. Suddenly, video game publishers were asking what the team was working on. The world seemed ready for weird, rubber hose styled chickens.
But No Country For Old Hen was messy. It wasn’t set up for scalability, and most of it was experimentation. When She Was Such A Good Horse formally formed, the team made a hard reset. Måns and Mathias built a clean foundation, and the studio started working on what would become Into The Unwell.
The GIF that caught everyone’s attention
No Country For Old Hen may have never been launched, but its DNA lives on in every surreal, squishy, unhinged moment of Into The Unwell. Felix's fascination over early animation techniques, studying Preston Blair, analyzing hand-painted backgrounds, and obsessing over how nothing was ever straight. That love for chaos blended with the rest of the team’s tastes to create the final artstyle of Into The Unwell.
There’s even a tiny playable prototype: a short co-op baseball puzzle game tucked away somewhere. Maybe one day it’ll escape the shadows. Time will tell.
Want to discuss Into The Unwell, the Closed Beta, rubber hose animation, and everything in between? Join our Discord! You can also follow us on Steam and social media for updates on the next Closed Beta round, Early Access, and more!
Till next time,
Stay weird, stay wacky.
/ The Horses 🐎