MTL: Muffins On Stream
Here it is! The first entry in our flagship project, and our first video game!
This was a number of years in the making. It started a series of concepts, which later developed into an animated video, before eventually becoming a bona fide, playable video game! We had the idea, the skills, and all of the pieces. It was just a matter of putting them all together in just the right way…
Screenshot from a demo we made for our flagship title ‘Muffin Tour Legacy’. We see a snippet of a boss fight as Molly fights Cake Boss and a horde of muffin munchers.
Rather than dive head first into a full game, we had the idea to pivot towards a less ambitious, but more intriguing version of the project. ‘Muffins On Stream’ is what we call a community engagement game, designed to be played on Twitch by live streamers. These types of games are designed as a way for a streamer to interact with their audience. While this wasn’t part of our strategy at the outset, it turned out to be a good way to get eyes on our game. As well as a product in its own right, it represents a solid proof of concept to fuel more ambitious projects down the line.
Muffins on Stream’ in action! The streamer hosts while viewers play as muffins. The last one standing wins the round!
The game features an intro cinematic that I designed and directed. This was one of a number of recent chances for me to practice creative direction, having reassembled a reliable creative team for this one. Up until this point, we had not had a chance to feature much animation outside of the in-game sprites. This is how we tease the story-driven aspects of the game, while also honing in on the desired aesthetic. The game’s cartoonish style is reminiscent of shows that we had enjoyed growing up - bold geometric shapes, bright colors, heavy black lines - and aligns well with the silly yet fantastical tone of the pastry-centric concept driving the in-game narrative. Streamers and their viewers get a glimpse of the town of Flourden, Molly’s muffin shop, and the inciting incident that kicks off the events of the game!
Screenshots from the intro cinematic, debuting Flourden, the muffin shop, and Molly the Baker!
The game menu presented other storytelling opportunities. The main menu is presented as a leather-bound spell tome, the idea being that this book belongs to Marvin, a mentor character who is meant to play an integral role in the full game. Marvin, Molly, The Bear Claw King, and others are featured in the Characters section, where Twitch streamers may introduce their audience to the cast of MTL. The book also includes a Lore section that elaborates on much of the backstory of our in-game world. Each page features an entry of Flourden’s history as well as an accompanying illustration. These were inspired by medieval illuminated manuscripts or stained glass effigies, in keeping with the spirit of the western medieval-fantasy setting.
Marvin’s book of spells, recipes, and lore, ‘The Baking Legacy’, which here serves as the framing device for the main menu of the game.
LEFT: Molly, the Baker, the main character of our story, as she appears in the Character section.
RIGHT: Marvin the Magnificent, keeper of the fabled Baker’s Dust, which he used to seal away an ancient evil long, long ago…
Background or environment art is an important yet often overlooked discipline of entertainment design, and one that I do not consider my strong suit. There has never been a better excuse than this to try to sharpen this skill. Each level in Muffins on Stream represents a tease to a larger level of the full game while also capitalizing on the volumes of world building we had compiled at this point.
The town of Flourden, ravaged by the Bear Claw King, whose castle looms ominously, under a billowing Dust storm…
Check out the steam store if you are interested in purchasing our game for your stream. Be sure to follow us here and on Instagram and Twitter to keep up with updates on all things MTL!
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