![]() In the initial prototype that we built that weekend was the to Kiwi birds typing on a keyboard to send telegrams and a vision of it being two players acting as if they were kind of the left and right hands of a keyboard. So yeah, that’s kind of where the idea came from. And we said, ‘Wow, that’s, that’s a powerful image’. And one of us drew a picture of a kiwi bird wearing a radio headset. And so they had to work a desk job instead. So we’re like, ‘Get transmission bird protagonists’.Īnd we’re just kind of sitting around in the gymnasium there where they were hosting it and thinking about ideas, and one of us, we liked the idea of postal birds who couldn’t fly. And one of the random modifiers that we took was that our game had to include a bird protagonist. We had 48 hours to make a game based on that prompt. They said interpret that however you want. And the theme for the event was they gave us the word transmission. So we did the Global Game Jam in Orlando. And we were working on game projects on the side outside of work. And we were working together at a military simulation company. Joel Davis: So we’re a small team, we’re a three-person team. ![]() KeyWe is an innovative addition to the family-friendly co-op genre with simple task-based gameplay and beautiful presentation providing a fun pick-up-and-play experience, but don’t expect much from its single player mode as the game’s shelf life lies almost entirely in the randomness produced from co-operating with others.PlayDiaries: First off, then, talk to me of that initial inspiration of how the idea for KeyWe sort of came about. Not to mention the numerous unrecoverable situations that cause you to restart the level, even when they are seemingly commonplace considering the conceit, like putting the wrong sticker on a lid and being unable to remove it and replace it with another one. ![]() With a rather strange body shape, it’s almost understandable why nearly half of your Kiwi’s body disappears into the environment without having to rework the game’s level design, but it looks a bit strange to have your kiwi’s entire head disappear into a wall for no reason. The game’s issues are also much harder to ignore when not clouded by the fun of the multiplayer mode. Some added variety exists in different level types, such as making faces, but its underused. The solo experience, while still enjoyable, is hamstrung by the fact that you can obviously only control 1 Kiwi at a time which forces the game into a box it’s not perfectly suited for with levels that require you to do every little tedious task yourself – like protecting yourself from flies and gathering message pieces or typing long messages – and it leaves the gameplay feeling like you are stuck in transit – slow and unnecessarily delayed. This simplicity works for co-op playthroughs though, as the slight twists in levels and increase in difficulty, that each of the 50+ stages offer, feels more significant and the randomness of playing with another person shines through. A package follows the conveyer belt and you need to label it and package it. I’m all about the little things in games and the satisfying animation and sound effects of picking up a shipping label, jet-packing jumping to affix it to a crate lid with your butt and then using a crane like device to attach it to the top of a shipping crate, is absurdly enjoyable, but these gimmicks are not as common as you’d hope and despite its aesthetic winning me over, the tediousness of essentially the same goal and level types set in. More complicated versions added codes you need to decipher, but this does not change how unenjoyable the process is.ĭescribing one level is like describing them all though, with only a slightly different layout, color design and one or two extra elements separating each of them and it’s because of this, that you will know almost immediately whether this game is for you as it’s just more of the same with each ‘new’ task. One of the two most repetitive gimmicks is to type messages out. Vibrant and dripping with charm, the presentation and its intentionally poorly explained puzzles manage to keep you occupied and its amusing co-operative gameplay sparks comparisons with other simple family-friendly co-op games like Overcooked. With its adorable protagonists in tow, you must use your two bundles of feathers as fast as possible to complete the step-based tasks through 50+ levels. Taking on the unenviable task of making a boring job the main conceit of a game, KeyWe has you working in a sorting office, shuffling around, attaching labels and generally sorting your way through mail, but, wait for it – as a small fluffy creature. Taaa-daaa!! Cue the pre-recorded cheer and a money-making machine that makes it rain from the skies, because we’re onto a winner!
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