I just want to start off by saying a massive thankyou to everyone for your continuous support! we've just hit the end of the first 2-weeks of our Kickstarter campaign and we are at 65% funded already!! That's so amazing and I'm so grateful for all your support in making our game a reality. I feel like this would be a great time to mention that we have our demo out on steam! over 2000 people have already downloaded and played it and we've been watching all of the Youtube videos and trying to tune into all of the streams! It's been so fun watching everyone play (and writing down all of the bugs we've found!) If you'd like to back us on Kickstarter Maybe get an Axolotl Plushie and Help us achieve our funding goal here's a link:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dndt-by-catalyst/dungeons-and-dining-tables-action-rpg-cozy-sim In our previous update I set up a poll to hear about what you'd like to know about our game. Here are the results:
In July of 2023 while studying at AIE in the Graduate Diploma of Management (Learning) I came up with the initial concept for the idea of Dungeons and Dining Tables (Called Project Kindle Quest at the time) This was my second attempt to start a new original games IP for my games studio Catalyst Games as we had previously started another project that did not motivate or inspire. Building the first prototypes for Dungeons and Dining Tables, at this stage it was more of a top-down ARPG which included a fox and a badger character with a limited character controller and a small level to explore in a fantasy dungeon theme and skeleton enemies.
We always knew we wanted the player character to be something with big ears, or big hair and you can see from the concept art we went through a few iterations before landing on something we were happy with
We even had our first fan art piece created from a friend of the team Seals! <3
After a few months, I had a team that was excited about this project and we debuted the project at PAX through the AIE showcase booth. We had taken the last few months to refine a main character which had changed from a fox to an axolotl (through lots of iteration) and we showed off our game for the first time publicly. We found our target audience loved what we had created and even had a few interviews with content creators about our process and what we were building.
Our team loved the axolotl so much we even made a few comic strips for the bottom of our monthly newsletter! it was so fun to explore the lore and sub-stories we could add about the Axolotl and their adventures! we themed them around different holidays and events coming up throughout the year. here's a few!
As a team making a game about an axolotl, we can't lie that their real life counterparts are a real inspiration for our project. However, axolotls in the wild don't have the benefits of Percy's healing brew and even fewer have a cosy place of their own due to severe habitat loss, water pollution, and the introduction of predatory fish like tilapia and carp to their homes.
As such, it is our hope that should we be successful in funding, Catalyst Games will be donating 5% of the total amount raised from this campaign to help axolotls in the wild. Depending on that amount we will keep all backers updated on how much we are able to contribute and at which sponsorship level.
If you are curious or would like to learn more about the UNAM program, you can visit their website here.
Today we want to shout out another cozy Kickstarter project that has caught our eye with a cool concept:
In Toymaker: Threads of Joy you will craft unique plushies, manage your growing business, and unravel the myths and mysteries woven into the ancient streets of Salamanca, the legendary Spanish city.
You don't want to miss any of the exclusive limited rewards! Check out their campaign:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/uprisingstudios/toymaker-craft-plushies-and-discover-a-magical-story
And wishlist them on steam!
Thank you again, Please share our Kickstarter around and play the demo for yourself!