Hello! This is the KAKUREONI dev team.
Today, we’d like to talk about another feature from our roadmap that has been progressing in development.
This time, we’ll be focusing on:
Task: The Oni Update
The core concept behind KAKUREONI is “awe and fear.”
During the first CBT, the Oni was designed with a silhouette closer to that of a giant human figure.
(Of course, visual quality improvements were already planned from the beginning.)
KAKUREONI is a game about
“Oni” and “children” facing off against each other.
That means the Oni isn’t just an enemy — It is one of the main character of the experience.
If players don’t feel excited about playing as the Oni, then this game simply doesn’t work.
Then, the designers brought us a completely new Oni design.
It had an uneven body shape clearly unlike any normal human, unnaturally long limbs, and the silhouette of a creature that would shock you if you encountered it in the dark.
What we want to express is the kind of fear children would instinctively feel:
the terror of realizing you’ve come face to face with something you were never meant to encounter.
Put simply, the contrast we’re aiming for is:
Cute, stylized children
versus
A horrifying Oni with a more realistic appearance.
When people imagine an Oni, they often picture a giant figure with horns.
However, when we thought about the game’s core concept — “awe and fear” — we came to the conclusion that the Oni should feel like something that goes slightly beyond human imagination.
Something unsettling. Something unnatural.
We also talk more about KAKUREONI’s design philosophy in the video below.（In Japanese）
【ゲーム開発Vtuber】アートについてお話しするよ！【かくれ鬼】
（【Game Dev VTuber】Let’s Talk About the Art of KAKUREONI!）
The Oni Is Also a Protagonist
It’s easy to become emotionally attached to the children, since they’re the human characters.
However, as we mentioned earlier:
the Oni is also one of the central characters of this game.
A protagonist needs a story.
And naturally, the Oni has one as well.
Why did it become this way?
Why does it hunt the children?
Those answers are woven into the game’s story, and will gradually be revealed as players continue playing.
We hope you’ll look forward to uncovering them.
And there’s more:
this Oni is not the only one.
In the future, additional Oni with completely different appearances and unique abilities are planned to appear as well.
What kinds of fear will each Oni bring?
We hope you’ll be excited to find out.
“If we can’t explain what we’re making in 30 seconds, then maybe we still haven’t fully understood its core.”
That idea became the foundation of our now-ongoing tradition:
The “30-Seconds Challenge!”
Will we succeed? Be sure to watch the full video to find out!
Full video here👇
How these updates will actually feel in-game
is something we hope you’ll enjoy discovering through future updates and videos.
And if KAKUREONI interests you even a little, we hope you’ll continue following the game and its future development
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Thank you so much for supporting KAKUREONI!
Announcement!
The game development VTuber group behind KAKUREONI, “Pixelade!”, has officially launched a note blog!
Pixelade! Game Development Club
https://note.com/pixelade_forces
We’ll be sharing game development stories, behind-the-scenes moments, struggles, and progress updates from our streams in a more easy-to-read format!
So if you don’t always have time to catch our livestreams, we hope you’ll check it out there!