Hello everyone.
Today we’re announcing the release date for The Perfect Pencil, and I wanted to take this moment to share what this game means to me and to the rest of the team.
The shortest way I can describe what this project felt like is this: it started as a clumsy caterpillar, driven by a strong conviction but weighed down by many fears. Then the chrysalis began to take shape, through a turbulent and often painful process.
What made it possible to go all the way through was the reason behind the game itself. It was born from the most intense experience I’ve ever had in my life.
Whenever I faced fear, an overwhelming rush would hit me: panic would rise, my mind would freeze, and I would feel lost in unknown voids. Until something slowly started to change — and that’s when this project was born.
It felt like something deeply important and relatable, something worth sharing, and I hope we came as close as possible to portraying it.
Another thing that was really intresting was to portray was all those little things that happens in our daily life usually just under our conscious radar.
While developing the game, I grew as the game grew. Every time I felt that something inside it truly reflected that experience, it made me incredibly happy and gave me renewed energy.
Along the way, I met fantastic people who fell in love with the game as much as I did and helped make it far better than I could have imagined. Luckily, it wasn’t their first rodeo.
They also helped me step out of the lonely shell I had been living in, back when I was working completely on my own. In many ways, I felt like I was living the same journey I was trying to convey — and I hope that made the game stronger.
This was my first game, so many things had to be learned along the way, and at times that slowed the process down. But, like Wile E. Coyote, we kept going even when the ground beneath our feet had disappeared — and somehow we made it to the other side (or at least, I hope you will too).
Now, after six years, we’re still inside the chrysalis — but it’s getting thinner, and light is starting to come through. Soon, we’ll find out whether it will finally emerge as a butterfly.
The Perfect Pencil will be available on January 29, 2026!
- Stefano Rauzi
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1858810/The_Perfect_Pencil/