Hi, I’m David, a game designer who made the rather inadvisable decision to leave AAA development and start a game studio that could focus on building things we love. Now, I’m proud to work alongside a team of exceptionally talented individuals at Noodle Cat Games… which definitely didn’t get its name from when I drove by a ramen shop next to a pet store.
One of Cloudheim’s first defining concepts from October 2022, showing the feeling we wanted from characters and blins.
Years later, we’re equally excited and anxious to share the early access version of Cloudheim. We set out to make Cloudheim because we couldn’t find anything quite like it — a simmering stew of many of our favorite things, ranging from cute monsters to ridiculous fighting game combos to management simulation games. Cloudheim is not perfect, but I believe you’ll discover a game imbued with heart, character and depth. From this core, the game will continue to rapidly improve thanks to player feedback and community engagement.
Cloudheim’s immaculate graphics in late 2022. No artists were permanently harmed in the creation of this prototype, but the same cannot be said for the eyes of the artists who had to look at it daily.
Cloudheim’s first single character concept art from November 2022. You can see this character’s design in both Astrid and Mana today!
Cloudheim’s inspirations are broad, but the one that truly led us here, and that I felt was worth a mention, is the indie gem Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale. Although Cloudheim plays quite differently, our team loves how Recettear blends different game modes into something great. Recettear left a deep impression from what that indie team was capable of doing and the risks they took, and it stuck with me for more than a decade when I decided to follow in their footsteps instead of chasing a AAA paycheck.
Cloudheim in January 2023, long before our heroes learned how to properly hold weapons.
Today, it’s hard to believe where Cloudheim is now compared to the early prototypes we made, and how much it’s grown beyond the small seed that was initially planted back in 2022. Noodle Cat’s team breathed life and color into the world of Cloudheim in a way I could only feign to imagine, and I’m grateful to their dedication to building a dream together.
Cloudheim in early 2023, with its first ultra wide gameplay tests.
I don’t believe in the concept of the auteur game designer in most of today’s game development industry. Games are built from the creativity and passion of a broad group of developers and support teams. Cloudheim is entering early access with work from our artists, QA, engineers, designers, and more who all poured their passions into the game across the years, and coming from individuals in countries across the world.
Cloudheim in July 2024, when greebles became feared.
Although I started Noodle Cat, Cloudheim is not mine alone. It’s theirs. Each decision, each piece of art, written line of code, and feature added to the project has contributed in making the game what it is today. Cloudheim belongs to the team.
Cloudheim in May 2025, when we made the tutorial level.
Studios like Noodle Cat are born out of a desire to make games for players. To create something that we love, and hope you’ll love too, and join us on the journey ahead. This is fundamentally different from the approach that exists in most of the industry; one that our team came from before working together to build Cloudheim.
Cloudheim today, as we release into Early Access.
While Cloudheim has belonged to the team for years, today that is about to change. We made the game for you, and so we are now giving it to the players. From now on, Cloudheim belongs to you.
— David Hunt