Corgis. Mech suits. CORGIS IN MECH SUITS. (and other adorable animals, of course)

Welcome to our first official blog post here at Uncommon Games where we wanted to formally welcome you into the Animalkind community! You may be asking yourself, “Self, what is Uncommon Games and Animalkind?” What a brilliant question, fellow indie connoisseur, let’s dive in.

Create, explore, and become a part of the cozy world of Animalkind; a whimsical online gaming experience where you can choose from an array of characters to don a spiffy mech suit and dive into a new world ready to be explored and creativity conquered. This will be an ongoing gameplay experience, so the game will grow alongside the community to further push the boundaries of what creative crafting can look like if you could have your dream customizable island. We have quite a few folks obsessed with games like Skyrim and Dragon Age on our small team, so fully expect some recreations of our own favorite gaming adventures getting shoved in your faces on our social channels. And who knows? Maybe that will inspire you to wholesomely craft your own dream crossover.

But we digress…

About Uncommon Games

The team here at Uncommon Games has one goal in mind: craft gaming communities within the games we want to make and to play. To curate and grow a truly cross-platform experience that is designed to creatively inspire and share with friends. Heck… we’re already testing out holding some work meetings in our own cozy dwellings in-game. Less IRL, less problems. Or at least, more excuses to show off your sweet, sweet decor skills.

We’re a small team that began our journey back in 2021 with a small group of friends and former colleagues to become a studio that puts people and players first. We wanted to make a sandbox game that we wanted to play with you and we wanted to do it in a way that kept our developers feeling safe, supported, and creatively inspired from start to finish. After all, you can’t create magic if you’re not taking care of your mental health and leading with empathy.

Like many studios before - and many long after - our journey had some pretty wild pivots, including completely scrapping our initial vision to create something we think is even better. At very least, definitely cuter (which is important). We’re making a wholesome and creatively driven game that you can pick up at any time to relax, adventure, or hang out with others… We wanted to make a game that doesn’t feel like a chore or something that doesn’t make your day better. We want this space to feel like a place you want to be.

If you’re interested in diving into the history of Uncommon Games and our approach to making these digital worlds, check out our first official Devlog when it drops next week! We're even showing off the game that almost was, so you're definitely going to want to check it out.

Hello From the Community Team

We also wanted to pop in to say hi as the community manager team here at Uncommon Games, especially since you’re going to be hearing a lot from us in the future. And seeing a lot from us. And hearing the weird ideas that pop into our noggins (only the real ones that have followed us on TikTok from day one know. We see you, you lovely humans, and we appreciate you.

Liana, AKA Hippy

Hey hey, fellow corgi butt enthusiasts! My name is Liana and I’m one of the CMs here at Uncommon and the author of this blog post. You can always tell which blog posts are from  me, because a little part of you will die inside with all the dad jokes. But hopefully an overabundance of puns and outdated Vine references will have some restorative power. Or not. We’ll see.

You may know me as a CM for other games like Destiny 2, or from my work as a journalist at places like Game Informer and Prima Games. Or, wild thought - bear with me on this one: this is our first time meeting! In that case, hi and also I’m sorry. Also sorry for the way I will inexplicably be able to tie literally any and every conversation back to Mass Effect. Don’t worry, you’ll see what I mean.

Austin, AKA "Hi, it's me, Austin"

Hello! I’m Austin, the Content and Community Specialist at Uncommon! I’ve been making YouTube videos for approximately 1,000 years, but wanted to try something different–which has become making content here for Animalkind to get y’all hyped about our game. And to see how I can break our game in Unity. That’s fun too.

Brian, AKA BG

Why, I didn’t see you there dear reader… I’m Brian and I’m one of the dreamers who started this studio. I wear all sorts of hats at Uncommon and you may hear from me occasionally if you enjoy Animalkind and join our community. Unlike Austin and Liana, I’ve been more of a behind-the-scenes type but as you get older you try new things! I just hope you like what we’re trying to do and I want to build this game with you.

Animalkind, At The End Of The Day...

At the end of the day, Animalkind is about you. We want you to feel like your creative potential is a short tail wag away. Even better, we want you to be able to have a world where you can drift away into with the calming soundtrack to motivate you whilst crafting your dream island solo or with friends. Customize, express, and create together... while being irresistibly heckin' cute with those adorable little toe beans. TOE BEANS. What more could you want? We mean, really…

Anyhoo, be sure to check us out and don't forget to wishlist us on Steam for future updates, behind-the-scenes looks from the dev team, and opportunities to play the game before anybody else with some upcoming closed testing periods coming up on the horizon. You should also join our Discord right here for game nights, first-looks, exclusive access, and just overall a fun place to be a part of the community and meet the team! Other places to find us include: 

• Socials! We like socials:
  • Twitter
  • TikTok
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
• Steam
  • Yes, we already said Steam but we’re saying it again. Why? Two reasons:
    1. We’ve got some opportunities coming soon to participate in some closed Alpha test for a very early build of Animalkind.
    2. Wishlisting helps. Wishlisting allows for indie studios like us to have tangible data direct from consumers to show to investors, funders, and potential partners that help make these visions come to life. Wishlisting also shows the Steam algorithm “Hey, this little pixelated indie gem is getting some interest, you should show more people this game!”. 

That, and it also just makes sure you’re in the loop with future updates as we ramp up towards launch. Which is always a good thing.

• TLDR: Steam, the key to “git gud.”

Don't let those dreams be dreams, become the cutie in a mechie that you were always meant to be today. We’re pawsitively thrilled to see what you all will create in this aww-some new adventure!

Before we go, just a quick reminder to make sure you’re drinking that water and practicing that self care. You can’t unleash your creative amazingness if you’re not taking care of yourself first.

‍

Until next time, friends,

🐾 Uncommon Games Community Team