Hello World! 👋
It's been a little while since we set up this Steam page for What's Inside The Rock?, and in that time... you happened. A small but very welcome group of followers has already found us before we've even posted a single update, so first things first: thank you for following, and welcome!
This devlog series is where we'll be sharing our progress, our experiments, and (eventually) our failures and triumphs as the game comes together. Consider this devlog #1 the official "hello world". 🌎
So, what is What's Inside The Rock? 👀
At its core, What's Inside The Rock? is about the simple, satisfying thrill of not knowing what's inside something until you open it up - except instead of loot boxes, it's rocks you found yourself out in the world. 🗺️
You'll explore different areas, gather rocks with your own two hands, and bring them back to your garage to find out what's really inside. Every rock is a tiny mystery: is it hollow? Is it full of crystal? Is it something rare? There's only one way to know. 🕵️
Key mechanics we're building around
A few pillars are guiding everything we design:
The Reveal - before you commit to cutting a rock open, subtle visual hints give you a sense of what might be waiting inside. Reading those hints (and learning to trust them) is part of the fun.
The Cut - cutting a rock open is permanent. Get it right and you reveal something beautiful; get it wrong and you might destroy it forever. This is where the real stakes of the game live.
The Display Cabinet - your collection isn't just numbers in a menu. It's a physical, 3D display case in your garage that grows and evolves as you find rarer and more impressive specimens - a gallery that's uniquely yours.
Gathering - collecting rocks out in the world is a skill of its own, with upgrades that change how, where, and what you can find.
Variety - between rock types (plain, shiny, geode), rarities, and sizes, there's a huge combination of possible finds, so no two sessions feel quite the same.
We'll be going much deeper into each of these mechanics - and into the different areas you'll explore - in future devlogs.
A little behind the scenes peek 🧐
Since this is devlog #1, we figured a quick peek behind the curtain was in order. Here's a look at our 3D Artist modeling a swing. YES, an actual swing you'll be able to hop on and swing around on in the game:
It's still just a model at this stage, no physics or animation yet, but in the next devlog, we'll show it up and running in-game, swinging for real. 🐵
What's next? ⏭️
We're still deep in early development, but we wanted to break the silence and say hello properly. Expect more devlogs covering the areas you'll explore, the different mechanics in more detail, and more sneak peeks as things start to click into place.
Thanks again for being here this early - it means a lot. See you in the next one!
Marcin & Kacper