{"id":80898,"date":"2024-06-20T16:53:45","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T16:53:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/20\/devs-behind-cute-pet-sim-game-are-worried-about-being-buried\/"},"modified":"2024-06-20T16:53:45","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T16:53:45","slug":"devs-behind-cute-pet-sim-game-are-worried-about-being-buried","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/20\/devs-behind-cute-pet-sim-game-are-worried-about-being-buried\/","title":{"rendered":"Devs Behind Cute Pet Sim Game Are &#8216;Worried&#8221; About Being Buried"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"sc-77igqf-0 fnnahv\">One night, as I\u2019m playing <em>Selaco<\/em>\u2014<span><a class=\"sc-1out364-0 dPMosf sc-145m8ut-0 erKGZM js_link\" data-ga=\"[[&quot;Embedded Url&quot;,&quot;Internal link&quot;,&quot;https:\/\/kotaku.com\/selaco-gzdoom-engine-fps-steam-review-early-access-1851513067&quot;,{&quot;metric25&quot;:1}]]\" href=\"https:\/\/kotaku.com\/selaco-gzdoom-engine-fps-steam-review-early-access-1851513067\">a fast-paced retro-inspired FPS<\/a><\/span>\u2014I round a corner and shoot three space guards with a grenade launcher and watch their body parts fly through the air. Meanwhile, watching from my desktop is Mustard, my new digital pet. He\u2019s from a different game, <span><a class=\"sc-1out364-0 dPMosf sc-145m8ut-0 erKGZM js_link\" data-ga=\"[[&quot;Embedded Url&quot;,&quot;Internal link&quot;,&quot;https:\/\/kotaku.com\/games\/weyrdlets&quot;,{&quot;metric25&quot;:1}]]\" href=\"https:\/\/kotaku.com\/games\/weyrdlets\"><em>Weyrdlets<\/em><\/a><\/span>, and he\u2019s hanging out with me as I work and play games on my PC. After killing some guards in <em>Selaco<\/em>,<em>\u00a0<\/em>I make sure to pet Mustard before reloading and getting back into the mayhem. <\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-1needdh-1 gRtQsx\">\n<div class=\"sc-1needdh-0 jQBnTp instream-native-video instream-permalink instream-native-video--mobile\">\n<div class=\"sc-1h0epat-0 crfeiW\">\n<div class=\"sc-1wkneyl-4 kDKXjm video-html5-playlist\" data-playlist=\"196539,193379,191355\" data-current=\"196539\">\n<div class=\"sc-1wkneyl-0 hAZDOz video-html5-loaded\">\n<div class=\"sc-1wkneyl-1 jShsAa video-html5-player\">\n<div class=\"sc-lhhce6-0 biVjcq video-html5 autoplay muted mobile\" data-video-id=\"196539\" data-monetizable=\"true\" data-position=\"sidebar\" data-video-title=\"This Innovative Hades-Like Feels Built For Speedrunners\" data-video-blog-id=\"9\" data-video-network=\"kotaku\" data-video-duration=\"278\">\n<div class=\"sc-lhhce6-2 emBeiF video-top-bar\">\n<p>This Innovative Hades-Like Feels Built For Speedrunners<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><video disablepictureinpicture=\"\" muted=\"\" playsinline=\"\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\" preload=\"none\" style=\"max-height:none\"><source data-src=\"https:\/\/vid.kinja.com\/prod\/196539\/196539_240p.mp4\" label=\"240p\" type=\"video\/mp4\"\/><source data-src=\"https:\/\/vid.kinja.com\/prod\/196539\/196539_480p.mp4\" label=\"480p\" type=\"video\/mp4\"\/><source data-src=\"https:\/\/vid.kinja.com\/prod\/196539\/196539_720p.mp4\" label=\"720p\" type=\"video\/mp4\"\/><source data-src=\"https:\/\/vid.kinja.com\/prod\/196539\/196539_1080p.mp4\" label=\"1080p\" type=\"video\/mp4\"\/><track kind=\"captions\" label=\"English\" src=\"https:\/\/kinja.com\/api\/videoupload\/caption\/22094.vtt\" srclang=\"en\"\/><\/video><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"sc-77igqf-0 fnnahv\">Mustard, a little pink lizard-like creature I created and named, is a good companion.  I wanted to know more about how he came to be and what it\u2019s like making an indie game in 2024. So I spoke to Weyrdworks, the devs behind <em>Weyrdlets<\/em>, to find out how this game works and how you break through among all the other new games launching on Steam every day.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"twitter-embed\" style=\"width:100%;height:100%\"><iframe data-src=\"https:\/\/kotaku.com\/embed\/inset\/iframe?id=twitter-1800473298985525705&amp;autosize=1\" autoresize=\"true\" id=\"twitter-1800473298985525705\" data-recommended=\"false\" class=\"core-inset lazyload\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen=\"\" webkitallowfullscreen=\"webkitAllowFullScreen\" mozallowfullscreen=\"mozallowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-77igqf-0 fnnahv\">\u201c<em>Weyrdlets <\/em>is a cozy virtual pet game centered around a community and a simulated virtual world of colorful characters,\u201d explained game director Shawn Beck. \u201cThere aren\u2019t any real objectives or goals to achieve. It\u2019s all about caring for a pet in a wholesome community of friends. Think of it as a desktop companion that\u2019s also an idle game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-77igqf-0 fnnahv\">According to the game\u2019s art director, JT Yean, <em>Weyderlets<\/em> was inspired by <span><a class=\"sc-1out364-0 dPMosf sc-145m8ut-0 erKGZM js_link\" data-ga=\"[[&quot;Embedded Url&quot;,&quot;Internal link&quot;,&quot;https:\/\/kotaku.com\/animal-crossing-new-horizons-the-kotaku-review-1842321314&quot;,{&quot;metric25&quot;:1}]]\" href=\"https:\/\/kotaku.com\/animal-crossing-new-horizons-the-kotaku-review-1842321314\"><em>Animal Crossing<\/em><\/a><\/span>, a game that is also mostly about vibes and chilling with cute critters. Yean says that Weyrdlets is meant to \u201cfade into the background\u201d as you do other things on your PC. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-77igqf-0 fnnahv\">\u201cThink Microsoft Clippy, but better,\u201d adds social media specialist Wing Yee. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"sc-1bwb26k-1 dezcon\" id=\"h950\">A little digital friend on your big screen<\/h2>\n<p class=\"sc-77igqf-0 fnnahv\">While you can play <em>Weyderlets <\/em>like any other game\u2014with it taking over your screen as you help build a new home for your pet, train them, and play with them\u2014the coolest feature of this virtual pet sim is when you free your buddy and let them run around on your desktop as you do other things. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-77igqf-0 fnnahv\">According to Beck, the team had wanted to make a virtual pet game for some time but didn\u2019t have a \u201chook\u201d for it. <span><a class=\"sc-1out364-0 dPMosf sc-145m8ut-0 erKGZM js_link\" data-ga=\"[[&quot;Embedded Url&quot;,&quot;Internal link&quot;,&quot;https:\/\/kotaku.com\/untitled-goose-fan-game-unleashes-havoc-on-your-desktop-1841351806&quot;,{&quot;metric25&quot;:1}]]\" href=\"https:\/\/kotaku.com\/untitled-goose-fan-game-unleashes-havoc-on-your-desktop-1841351806\"><em>Desktop Goose<\/em> and other games<\/a><\/span> that put characters on your desktop helped guide the team. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-77igqf-0 fnnahv\">\u201cIt\u2019s not a new concept, for sure,\u201d said Beck. \u201cBut we\u2019ve tried a lot of other desktop pet games, and they were more toys than games. It just seemed like there was more to explore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-77igqf-0 fnnahv\">The team says balancing the virtual pet on your desktop was tricky. The cute pet needs to require some of your attention, you\u2019ll sometimes need to feed it or pet it, but they always had to make sure your cute critter never felt annoying. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-77igqf-0 fnnahv\">How this all works, according to the devs, is that <em>Weyrdlets <\/em>is running on screen with a transparent background. So you can see and interact with your desktop as your virtual pet runs around and demands food. In my time with <em>Weyrdlets<\/em>, I\u2019ve never been annoyed by Mustard, even when he would wander in front of my emails. And I was always able to get work done, watch videos, or play other games, too. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"sc-1bwb26k-1 dezcon\" id=\"h951\">Getting people to play your new game in 2024<\/h2>\n<p class=\"sc-77igqf-0 fnnahv\">Of course, in 2024, even a cute virtual pet game inspired by <em>Animal Crossing<\/em> might struggle to find an audience. I asked the team if they were concerned about being buried by all the other <span><a class=\"sc-1out364-0 dPMosf sc-145m8ut-0 erKGZM js_link\" data-ga=\"[[&quot;Embedded Url&quot;,&quot;External link&quot;,&quot;https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/steam-breaks-another-annual-record-launching-more-than-14000-games-in-2023\/&quot;,{&quot;metric25&quot;:1}]]\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/steam-breaks-another-annual-record-launching-more-than-14000-games-in-2023\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">big and small releases that seemingly launch every day on Steam<\/a><\/span>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-77igqf-0 fnnahv\">\u201cWe\u2019re worried all the time,\u201d admitted Beck. \u201cReally, all we can do is put our best foot forward and build something focused on bringing value to our players. Though I hope being in a niche space of virtual pets will help separate us from the noise.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"sc-1eow4w5-1 fuSEnv align--bleed js_lazy-image js_marquee-assetfigure\" id=\"\" data-id=\"4edd54d99b5f18892d46edd0eabc9163\" data-recommend-id=\"image:\/\/4edd54d99b5f18892d46edd0eabc9163\" data-format=\"jpg\" data-width=\"1920\" data-height=\"914\" data-lightbox=\"true\" data-alt=\"A screenshot shows someone playing Weyrdlets. \" data-recommended=\"false\" data-hide=\"false\" contenteditable=\"false\" draggable=\"false\">\n<div class=\"sc-1eow4w5-2 fDJNBs has-data img-wrapper\" contenteditable=\"false\" style=\"max-width:1920px\" data-alt=\"A screenshot shows someone playing Weyrdlets. \" data-link-reference=\"\" data-link-target=\"\" data-syndicationrights=\"true\" data-imagerights=\"other-license\" data-hide=\"false\" data-hidecredit=\"false\"><span class=\"sc-1eow4w5-0 knmQPh js_lightbox-wrapper\"><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:47.6%\" class=\"sc-1eow4w5-3 hGpdBg\"><picture class=\"sc-epkw7d-0 diKDHf lazy-picture\"><source media=\"(max-width: 37.31em)\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" srcset=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/i.kinja-img.com\/image\/upload\/c_fit,q_60,w_645\/4edd54d99b5f18892d46edd0eabc9163.jpg\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 37.37em)\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" srcset=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/i.kinja-img.com\/image\/upload\/c_fit,q_60,w_1315\/4edd54d99b5f18892d46edd0eabc9163.jpg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A screenshot shows someone playing Weyrdlets. \" data-chomp-id=\"4edd54d99b5f18892d46edd0eabc9163\" data-format=\"jpg\" data-height=\"914\" data-alt=\"A screenshot shows someone playing Weyrdlets. \" data-anim-src=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i.kinja-img.com\/image\/upload\/c_fit,q_60,w_645\/4edd54d99b5f18892d46edd0eabc9163.jpg\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p><figcaption class=\"sc-7s1ndr-0 fPOdhF no-caption\">Screenshot<!-- -->: <!-- -->Weyrdworks<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span data-id=\"4edd54d99b5f18892d46edd0eabc9163\" data-recommend-id=\"image:\/\/4edd54d99b5f18892d46edd0eabc9163\" data-format=\"jpg\" data-width=\"1920\" data-height=\"914\" data-lightbox=\"true\" data-alt=\"A screenshot shows someone playing Weyrdlets. \" data-recommended=\"false\" data-hide=\"false\" class=\"js_recommend\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"sc-77igqf-0 fnnahv\">As for tips for other devs out there who hope to make something good that people actually find and play, Yean advised teams to \u201calways share your work,\u201d and get as much feedback as possible. \u201cPlayer feedback has been immensely valuable to us,\u201d added Beck.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-77igqf-0 fnnahv\">\u201cIt\u2019s also nice to be able to include the community in the credits,\u201d said Yee. \u201cI wish more games did this. I\u2019m still new to the games industry, but being involved in the development of a game is really exciting, whether you\u2019re on the dev team or cheering from the sidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-77igqf-0 fnnahv\">Assuming Weyrdworks is able to get people playing and enjoying its desktop pet sim, the team has big plans for the future, including a soccer mode and more. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-77igqf-0 fnnahv\">\u201c<em>Weyrdlets <\/em>is a continuously evolving game, meaning it will continue to receive updates, events, minigames, and other exciting features even after launch,\u201d said Yee. \u201cThe fun never stops.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-77igqf-0 fnnahv\"><span><a class=\"sc-1out364-0 dPMosf sc-145m8ut-0 erKGZM js_link\" data-ga=\"[[&quot;Embedded Url&quot;,&quot;External link&quot;,&quot;https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/2366060\/Weyrdlets\/&quot;,{&quot;metric25&quot;:1}]]\" href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/2366060\/Weyrdlets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Weyrdlets <\/em>launches on July 23<\/a><\/span>. A Mac version of the game will arrive sometime after launch. You can currently download and play a free demo of the game on Steam. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-77igqf-0 fnnahv\">\u00a0 .<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/kotaku.com\/weyrdlets-virtual-pet-desktop-game-sim-animal-crossing-1851550832\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One night, as I\u2019m playing Selaco\u2014a fast-paced retro-inspired FPS\u2014I round a corner and shoot three space guards with a grenade launcher and watch their body<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":80899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaming"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}