Hi everyone!
We’re a tiny team of five humans, but if you count our 'management', we’re actually a team of fourteen. Between us, we share our individual homes with seven cats and two dogs, so it’s probably no surprise that our first project together is a cozy horror game about running an animal shelter.
But there’s a twist: In our world, not every animal is what they seem. Some are Mimics, strange creatures trying their best to pretend they’re just regular pets.
Meet the First Inspiration: Lucky
For our very first creature design, we looked no further than our dev's cat, Lucky. Lucky is an Abyssinian cat. If you know the breed, you know they are incredibly sleek, athletic, and have a coat that looks remarkably like wild fur.
Looking at Lucky’s long body, we thought: “What if he was… even longer? What if he hopped?” And thus, the Kangaroo Cat was born.
The 'sweet spot' of Creepy-Cute
Designing a aniaml is harder than it looks. We want these creatures to be "uncanny", but adorable at the same time makes you want to open your arms to them.
Our artists went through a bit of a journey to find the right balance:
Version A (Too Normal): He just looked like a regular cat in a kangaroo body. A bit boring for a world of mysteries!
Version B (The Nightmare): We tried octopus tails and snake heads. Our dev team’s verdict? "Too evil." We want you to want to hug them, even if you're a little afraid of them.
Version C (The Bodybuilder): We tried making it muscular and strong. It ended up being... accidentally hilarious? Not quite the "cozy horror" vibe we were going for.
Version D (The "Pikachu" Phase): Way too cute. It felt like a different game entirely.
After many attempts, we finally found the 'sweet spot'. A creature that looks gentle and curious, but with eyes that seem to see a bit too much. This is the version of the Kangaroo Cat you’ll be meeting in the game.
We have so many more creatures in the works, each with their own weird quirks and inspirations. We’re working hard to bring this strange shelter to life, and we hope these stories make the wait a little more interesting.
Maybe Lucky will bring us all a bit of luck as we move toward our next milestone!
What do you think? Would you let this Kangaroo Cat into your shelter?