Screenshot Saturday Sundays: Fox friends, festive flight, and fragment fishing

E3 might be over, but the great turning wheel of game development never pauses. These developers might not get the glitz/grime combo of the big show, but they do have Screenshot Saturday, a lovely Twitter tag to share some peeks at in-progress work. This week: some lonely foxes, a handful of very helpful party decorations, and a wonderful collection of scrap.

Where else would we start but with cute fox cubs? Everyone say “aww” at these babies from Endling.

Unfortunately, the game’s Steam page shatters the cute illusion somewhat. “As the last fox, keep your cubs alive and reach the only place on Earth where humans cannot harm them,” it says. “Explore Endling's 3D side-scrolling world and defend your cubs, three tiny and defenseless fur balls, feed them, see how they grow up level after level, notice their unique personalities and fears, and most importantly, make them survive.”

I’ve played Shelter. I know how this goes. But I still want to see Herobeat Studios’ twist on it, especially because a Tweet downthread says they’re implementing “variable tail idle animations.” I love to be tricked into pain via cuteness.

Also cute is this bird friend from Songbird Symphony.

Sometimes, even if you can fly, you just need a little bit of encouragement from some balloon-pop propulsion. They make such a satisfying snap, too, and the chubby little walk cycle is adorable. According to the game’s Steam page, this friend is literally called “Birb,” and he’s exploring for his “true origins.” He’s gonna be singing and platforming his way through it, and I loved Wandersong, so I’m very intrigued to see whether this can capture the same musical magic when it releases in July.

The jellyfish being scooped up here in UnDungeon are also sweet, if you ask me, but I’m more enamoured by the way all these bits of scrap come together into this swiss cheese tent.

Dominic wrote about this action-RPG-slash-roguelike almost a year ago, taking a stab at explaining its unsettling post-human world and the alien “Heralds” you’ll be playing as. “The glimpses we get at the non-playable (yet friendly) aliens are fascinating too, such as a massive clawed sand-beast that speaks slowly and politely, and an arms dealer that appears to be some kind of crystalline octopus. It’s a strange world out there, and one I’m looking forward to exploring,” says he, and I agree. I want to become friends with this fisher, too. You can see more lovely gifs at the game's website.

Bonus this week is not really from a game at all. It’s an Unreal engine tutorial from a Starbreeze Studio lighting artist. It’s also gorgeous, just look at it.