SummaryAvailable on each console and PC with XPA.Flip between 2D and 3D views, uncover hidden paths, resolve 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 improper with him as a result of he simply can’t slot in.
Just a few years in the past, we have been an unproven workforce pitching a large, overly bold sport to publishers. Getting backing for a venture of that scale is extremely troublesome in India’s indie scene, and the passes we received again finally pressured a sensible query: What can we truly construct and see by to the tip fully on our personal?
The reply turned out to be a duck.
I’m Samhith, the artistic 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 out there on Xbox Sequence X|S and PC.
Regardless 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. Wanting again, we realized we had by accident adopted of their precise footsteps with Dodo Duckie.
We constructed our first prototype again in 2019, however as a busy service studio, the sport grew to become 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 resolution: take away the leap mechanic totally from a 3D area.
We initially assumed this distinctive switching mechanic could be our principal hook. However as gamers examined the sport, they confirmed us one thing else: they have 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 rationale to remain when you walked by. Juggling service work meant it took till 2025 to totally understand this imaginative and prescient, however we’ve lastly constructed a house we are able to’t await 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 proud of. The turning level got here when our Artwork director, Vincent Boichut, joined the workforce and recognized the actual drawback. As a result of we have been balancing tight assets, we solely had the funds to construct a single set of belongings that needed to work completely throughout two views. Every part needed to be learn clearly, whether or not gamers noticed it head-on in 3D or flattened into 2D.
That restraint grew to become our superpower. It’s the actual cause 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, attempting desperately to slot in earlier than studying that his variations are precisely what make him particular. It’s a battle our workforce is aware of intimately. Rising up in India’s extremely aggressive tradition, pursuing a artistic profession in sport improvement meant combating in opposition to 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 a substitute on animation, bodily comedy, and character expression. We needed the emotional beats to really feel like a Pixar brief, touchdown purely by 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 out there on Xbox Sequence X|S and PC!
If there’s one factor we hope gamers take away from our little chook’s story, it’s this: a leap doesn’t should look swish to depend.
Typically it simply has to occur.
Dodo Duckie
BornMonkie
☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★
$11.99
You’re a DUCK! with one particular cap that offers you the facility to change between 2D and 3D. Use it to discover, change views, resolve puzzles and save your hen pals.
