Nintendo‘s latest indie games showcase featured a familiar face: YouTube game reviewer turned game publisher Dunkey, with a teaser for his company’s upcoming first title Animal Well.
Dunkey built his channel on irreverent comedy, much of it visual, so to anyone who’s seen his videos, it’s probably not surprise that his Indie World Showcase appearance started with Dunkey lobbing a Frisbee (no explanation provided).
“Hello, I am funny video game man Dunkey from Bigmode Publishing and I am joined today by the creator of Animal Well, Billy Basso,” he said. He then proceeded to pick his way across the bank of a river in the background while Basso gave viewers the lowdown on Animal Well before taking over the talking while Basso whipped out a yo-yo.
Subscribe to get the latest creator news
In the presentation, Basso said he’s been developing Animal Well for the past five years. Dunkey’s game publishing company Bigmode (launched with his wife Leah Gastrow in September 2022) announced in January that it would publish Animal Well as its debut title.
The duo’s appearance at Indie World Showcase also delivered a new Animal Well teaser–a 50-second video showing off the pixel art platformer’s Rain World vibes:
On Steam, Bigmode describes Animal Well as a “dense, interconnected labyrinth” where players will collect items to manipulate the world around them and “[e]ncounter beautiful and unsettling creators, as you attempt to survive what lurks in the dark.”
Dunkey and Basso didn’t announce a precise release date for Animal Well, but confirmed it will be out sometime in early 2024.
