First of all, I hope you’re staying safe and have found healthy ways to be productive and weather the storm that is shaking our world right now. The Atooi team is in good health at this time. We all work remotely from our homes, inspirational park bench, or our local coffee shop (prior to the coronavirus), so our work routine has not been impacted as much as those who would normally visit an office. However, many of us are now also taking care of kiddos who are unable to go to school as well as grappling with busier-than-normal houses and the new challenges this presents, as I’m sure many of you are too.

 

In my last update, I mentioned we are working on our PR plan to orchestrate a careful roll out of information about the changes we’ve been making to the game to drum up excitement towards the release of the game. This is still our ideal goal, but I feel it is a good time to share one of those changes now to shed perhaps a tiny bit of light in these dark times.

 

Each time we make a game at Atooi our goal is to 1. Make something we love, and 2. Consider how best to position it as a commercial product. Number 2 may sound cold, but it is a lot more touchy-feely and lovey-dovey than it appears. We dig deep into our emotions and explore how the games that have had a big impact on us presented themselves, especially from the moment they first appeared on our radar, and then what followed after the initial reveal. If we can identify those moments and learn from them, we might be able to recreate them with our games so players can experience the same meaningful impact.

 

As such, I often try to step back from our projects and view them from an outside perspective. I ask myself, “How might this game appear to a newcomer?” First impressions are incredibly important with games. Many players’ first meeting with a new game is on the digital store, such as the Nintendo Switch eShop. The eShop banner! The eShop banner is so important, and I don’t think that can be overstated. The job of an eShop banner is to communicate what the game is in an exciting and informative manner while trying to stand out from the sea of other banners that surround it, so the only question left for the customer is “Am I interested in this?” It should never leave the player with the question, “What is this?”

 

When I stepped away and looked back at Chicken Wiggle Workshop from an outsider’s perspective, one thing was clear. The name is confusing. It is fun, sure. It’s a bit silly, too, which is fine. But, I feel that it creates more questions than it answers. What is Chicken Wiggle? Is it a dance? What is Workshop? Is this a building game? What type of game is this? The fact that the game originated on the 3DS will be unknown to most newcomers, so the idea that there is brand awareness is sadly not something the game can leverage.

 

This finally brings me to the exclusive reveal! The game previously known as Chicken Wiggle Workshop is now called HATCH TALES. I expect the image below may have tipped you off before you read that last sentence, but in the case of those who somehow avoided viewing the image below already, check out the new logo below!