Hey all, Marimo here! It’s been a while since I’ve written a monthly devlog like this. That’s because it’s been a while since I’ve had a big—and I do mean big—game project at hand, big enough to even warrant devlogs like these. Let’s talk about what 3 Halves Games has been cooking behind the scenes all this time.
The next big 3 Halves Games at long last has a title! Its name is Sincerely, Stampy (the comma in the title is very important!) If our previous massive game, Sovereign Tea, could be simplified to the concept of Tea VS Coffee then this next game, Sincerely, Stampy, can be reduced to Stamps in Space.
I’ll now spend some time explaining the core game loop. Please note that all screenshots shown are WIP and that all the information below is subject to change.
Sincerely, Stampy is a top-down non-combat exploration RPG with multiple endings. You play as Stampy, a philately-obsessed individual who has been abducted by “aliens” alongside four other humans. The “aliens” in this case are actually Astral Entities (if you need a refresher, play our older game, wdydwyafpoatasy) who are conducting a 14-day experiment to see how the five of you get along given the situation.
The four other humans have very different backgrounds from you and each other, be it their country of origin, their professions, their hobbies, and beyond. Sometimes they get along, sometimes they don’t. It’s up to you as the player to make peace with them—or do the exact opposite!
We’ll have additional posts showcasing each character and their personality later on as development continues, so please look forward to that.
Sincerely, Stampy is a quest-based game. As you interact with your environment, you will pick up items, collect new information, and progress through quests. Some of these quests are very simple, like wanting to eat some delicious, buttery popcorn. Some are much more complicated, like trying to create the perfect cup of espresso despite seemingly no access to coffee.
Information in the game is tracked through a mobile phone UI. You will use this phone to do quite a lot: access information on the characters you meet, track your quest progress, interact with your inventory, and even talk in online chat rooms! This is perhaps the most skeuomorphic UI I’ve ever designed, and I’m excited for players to engage with it!
As you progress in the game, Stampy will craft stamps whenever they feel inspired. You can then equip these stamps to give yourself temporary stat boosts. Therefore, a typical in-game day goes as follows:
- Open your quest tracker and determine which quests you wish to go for that day
- Open your stockbook and equip the stamps that will most benefit you to complete those quests
- Leave your room and begin your day of exploration and questing!
Most quests in the game involve skill checks via five stats: Energetic, Empathetic, Engineeric, Evaluatic, and Esoteric. (And yes, we invented some words for this!) You can modify your stats in three different ways:
- Permanently by completing quests
- Temporarily by equipping stamps into your loadout
- Contextually by learning specific information regarding the skill check
To provide concrete examples of the above:
- You completed the quest to find a missing 8 Ball! Permanently gain +1 Energetic.
- You equipped the 8 Ball stamp! Gain +1 Energetic so long as it’s equipped.
- You asked Tanja about how to properly pick tulips! Reduce -1 Energetic DC for the specific skill check of picking a tulip.
The game also will feature a number of mini-games, ranging from stock market simulations (something I absolutely dread having to develop due to complexity!) to playing chinchiro (seen above)!
I have so much more to share regarding Sincerely, Stampy, from the pacing of the game, to the plot branching, to the character design, and beyond. My next immediate goal is to get a Steam page up so you all can wishlist the title! For now, you can support the development of this game by following me on social media.
Until next time!
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