How we Constructed a Quest Round Curiosity in Cute Adventures

Hello, I’m Steven ter Heide, Inventive Director at Wild Sheep Studio engaged on the comfortable animal-adventure recreation, Cute Adventures.

In Cute Adventures, we set out with a easy intention: to create a comfy exploration recreation that captures the sensation now we have when wandering by means of nature: relaxed, curious, and splendidly distracted.

We realized that to realize that feeling, the story wanted to be grounded in a perspective that naturally encourages sluggish, playful exploration. That led us to Boris, a younger boar who finds himself separated from his household after a forest fireplace. Everyone seems to be protected, simply scattered throughout the park and the hearth is simply a part of the backstory. The journey that follows is light and carefree.

This setup gave us a transparent construction for the primary quest: serving to Boris discover his siblings and bringing the household again collectively. However from a design standpoint, we didn’t need this to turn out to be a standard goal‑pushed quest. It isn’t about urgency or hazard. It’s about being Boris.

Boris remains to be younger, and the world is filled with smells he doesn’t acknowledge but. Following scents turns into its personal type of exploration, a manner of navigating that ought to really feel playful and instinctive. Generally the scent of a sibling is hidden behind a stronger scent he must be taught earlier than he can comply with his nostril and discover his manner.

His largest problem is just not the atmosphere. It’s staying targeted lengthy sufficient to comply with that nostril. And actually, he doesn’t at all times succeed. Generally he wanders off. Generally he performs. Generally he simply sits. The park itself encourages that. Every biome has its personal character, its personal distractions, and its personal little surprises.

We’ve crammed the park with small interactions and particulars that reward curiosity, so wandering off the trail typically results in its personal little discoveries. This was necessary to us: exploration ought to really feel self‑directed, not prescribed. And whereas the primary quest is about discovering household, the sport by no means pushes you towards it. You’re free to discover at your personal tempo, to comply with no matter catches your consideration. There is no such thing as a proper order to issues. However as you develop your little group, the world opens up, providing you with new locations to achieve whenever you really feel able to discover extra.

To assist information the expertise with out breaking that feeling, we launched the Forest Guard. He’s the narrator of the journey, however extra as an observer than a storyteller. He is aware of the park properly, he’s significantly keen on Boris, and he understands the methods of the boars.

He doesn’t inform Boris what to do, and he doesn’t interrupt your exploration. As an alternative, he bridges the hole between our human understanding of trails and maps, and Boris’s world of scents and instincts. This lets Boris keep an actual animal: curious, playful, and infrequently cussed, whereas nonetheless providing you with an anchor for the story and useful observations alongside the way in which. His position is just to share insights about what you’re already doing, or what you simply did.

As you discover every sibling, the household grows, and so does your capacity to discover. Some areas can solely be reached whenever you work collectively, and every sibling brings their very own little quirks to the group. They’re completely satisfied to comply with Boris’s lead, and we hope they make the world really feel extra alive and extra linked. That every reunion seems like progress, not as a result of the sport tells you so, however as a result of the household feels extra full.

That’s the coronary heart of the story we need to inform: a delicate journey about rising up, studying the world, and discovering your manner again to those you like. Not by means of dramatic twists or excessive stakes, however by means of small discoveries and quiet moments.

In the long run, Boris doesn’t turn out to be a hero within the conventional sense. He stays a younger boar. However he learns what it means to be one: the way to navigate the world, the way to belief his instincts, and the way to assist others.

And alongside the way in which, we hope you are feeling a little bit of what impressed us: that peaceable, carefree pleasure of being outdoor, the place it’s okay to decelerate, take your time, and let your curiosity information you.

That’s the journey we wished to create, the story we wished to inform, and we’re excited to share it with you. Cute Adventures launches as we speak on Xbox Collection X|S and we hope you’ll test it out.