Blocky physics-based pet sim Wobbledogs hits early access today
Come meet some very good (mutating) boys and girls
Long have I waited for a game that's kind of like Nintendogs, where I can just chill out and look after some pups. Though, Nintendogs was a bit boring, and something weirder would be much more fun. I think that Wobbledogs is probably going to be my answer to this - a very odd, jiggly, colourful answer. It's a sandbox physics-based pet simulation where you raise strange blocky creatures that somewhat resemble dogs - and they all look like very good boys and girls. It comes out in early access today.
It's a kind of difficult game to explain so watch this excellent trailer first to get an idea of what exactly Wobbledogs is all about.
So, all of these blocky pups are physically simulated (right down to their guts), and they'll mutate over time, entering chrysalises and leaving them as stranger (but still cute) dog things. The food they eat changes the flora in their tums, so you can influence their mutations to turn them into your perfect pup.
"The dogs in this game are physically simulated, which adds a layer of uniqueness to almost every action they take," developers Animal Uprising say. "Two dogs with separate body structures will experience the world in different ways. They also have unique personality traits that influence the types of behaviors they tend to run and govern how they interact with other dogs and objects."
You can also create habitats and homes for your wobbly dogs, and connect them all by tubes they'll zoom around in. They remind me of the tubes I used to have for my hamster to run through.
"Wobbledogs is meant to be enjoyable simply to passively observe, but it’s also rewarding to interact with the dogs directly, whether that’s petting them to relieve some stress, tossing a pup around to watch it tumble through the pen, or helping your canine companion get free after it wriggled itself into a particularly tight space," the devs say. "These dogs try their best, but sometimes they need a bit of extra help!"
Wobbledogs arrives in early access on Steam later today. It's expected to stay in early access for about a year, and the devs plan on adding more mutations and additional interactions, as well as improving AI and other bits and pieces before its full release.
More good GIFs and pics await over on the game's website if you want to see more and are interested. Equally, there are some excellent (and slightly horrific) GIFs in Graham's post about Wobbledogs from four years ago, back when the game was in very early development.