Abstract
- Out there on each console and PC with XPA.
- Flip between 2D and 3D views, uncover hidden paths, clear up puzzles and extra.
- The story behind the design, inspiration and challenges resulting in launch.
We’ve all skilled a time once we’re surrounded by individuals but really feel fully misplaced. That’s the precise feeling Dodo Duckie begins from: a duckling raised amongst chickens, satisfied one thing is incorrect with him as a result of he simply can’t slot in.
Just a few years in the past, we had been an unproven group pitching a large, overly formidable sport to publishers. Getting backing for a mission of that scale is extremely troublesome in India’s indie scene, and the passes we acquired again ultimately pressured a sensible query: What can we truly construct and see via to the top fully on our personal?
The reply turned out to be a duck.
I’m Samhith, the inventive director at BornMonkie, a small indie studio in India that I run alongside my sister and producer, Samveda. That is the story behind our debut puzzle platformer, Dodo Duckie – now accessible on Xbox Collection X|S and PC.
Despite the fact that Dodo’s seek for belonging comes from a deeply private place for us, we needed his journey to really feel like a heat hug. It’s a vibrant, cozy world the place his clumsy makes an attempt to slot in are performed for laughs, turning a heavy theme right into a light-hearted journey about playful discovery.
Quacking the Code
Again within the day, most of the studios we glance as much as began their journeys with iconic mascot platformers. Trying again, we realized we had by chance adopted of their actual footsteps with Dodo Duckie.
We constructed our first prototype again in 2019, however as a busy service studio, the sport turned a long-term labor of affection. For years, we chipped away at it on and off between consumer jobs and one million different prototypes. Early on, we made a radical design choice: take away the leap mechanic solely from a 3D area.
We initially assumed this distinctive switching mechanic can be our foremost hook. However as gamers examined the sport, they confirmed us one thing else: they had been falling for Dodo Duckie earlier than they even understood the puzzles. That suggestions modified how we checked out our personal sport. We realized Dodo’s character was the entrance door, and our puzzle design was the explanation to remain when you walked via. Juggling service work meant it took till 2025 to completely notice this imaginative and prescient, however we’ve lastly constructed a house we are able to’t watch for gamers to enter.
Getting Dodo Simply Proper
Getting the sport to truly look proper was a large hurdle, we spent two to 3 months iterating on prototypes we simply weren’t pleased with. The turning level got here when our Artwork director, Vincent Boichut, joined the group and recognized the true downside. As a result of we had been balancing tight assets, we solely had the funds to construct a single set of property that needed to work completely throughout two views. Every little thing needed to be learn clearly, whether or not gamers noticed it head-on in 3D or flattened into 2D.
That restraint turned our superpower. It’s the true motive the world leans towards clear shapes, rounded edges, and vibrant colours. What seems like a purely stylistic selection was truly born out of a necessity for good readability, although we’re thrilled it occurs to be extraordinarily cute, too.
Discovering Our Wings
Beneath the puzzles is a narrative we care about deeply. Dodo grows up amongst chickens, making an attempt desperately to slot in earlier than studying that his variations are precisely what make him particular. It’s a wrestle our group is aware of intimately. Rising up in India’s extremely aggressive tradition, pursuing a inventive profession in sport improvement meant preventing towards strict expectations and risking isolation simply to do what we love. Dodo’s journey is ours.
Due to that, we selected to inform his story with out heavy dialogue, leaning as an alternative on animation, bodily comedy, and character expression. We needed the emotional beats to really feel like a Pixar quick, touchdown purely via what you see, making Dodo’s story common it doesn’t matter what language you communicate.
Our journey has lastly come to life. Dodo Duckie is now accessible on Xbox Collection X|S and PC!
If there’s one factor we hope gamers take away from our little hen’s story, it’s this: a leap doesn’t must look swish to depend.
Typically it simply has to occur.
Dodo Duckie
BornMonkie
$11.99
You’re a DUCK! with one particular cap that provides you the ability to modify between 2D and 3D. Use it to discover, change views, clear up puzzles and save your rooster buddies.
