"The VR paradigm of this game is really unique and interesting."

Last week we had a really nice chat with Michael Gordon Shapiro, Down the Rabbit Hole’s amazing music composer.
If you want to know who his favorite character is and what he thinks of the game, check out this interview with him on our YouTube channel:

Cortopia Studios just turned 5 years old today!

In addition to exciting new game announcements in the near future, we continue to push the technical aspect of our top-rated game, Down the Rabbit Hole, into a stunning 120Hz, one of only a handful of VR games. This allows for a remarkable level of immersion as you experience the beauty of Wonderland.

120Hz makes the game feel much smoother. Once you try out the game with this update, you will notice the difference right away.
Don't forget to enable "120 Hz Refresh Rate" in the Experimental Features section of the Quest 2 settings for the game to run in 120Hz!

To celebrate our anniversary, we'll not only release the 120Hz update but also do a giveaway on our social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter).

Happy birthday to us, and happy update day to you all!

Did you know that the tea party has some social significance?
In the Victorian Age (Alice in Wonderland was written in this time), tea parties were commonplace, particularly for the higher classes, allowing them to flaunt their cultural and intellectual highness.
They were also good occasions for discussing agreements or finding out the most urgent news from around the world - or other neighborhoods.

In Alice's story in Wonderland, the tea party is different. It is complete chaos without rules and without any kind of cultural or social pressure. This chaotic tea party is called The Mad Hatter's Tea Party. All the characters present at the party can and do act just as they want

It's such a disorienting, yet magical place. You can never know what comes next, but you have to go on to solve the puzzles and get out of this surreal realm.
You are in the right place if you want to know more about the Mirror Realm. Today, we’ll reveal some technical background on creating this scene.

The Mirror Realm was quite tricky to get right. It was hard to get the player to know where the character would end up when they went through doors. In the end, we opted for camera cuts to focus the player's attention. Turns out, running upside down is quite disorienting, so we decided to keep that to a minimum.

We wanted to have a clean cut between day and night like in the Disney movie, but we simply didn’t have time and it was more technically demanding than we originally thought. In the end, we decided against it.

The Mirror Realm was very complicated with the implemented system. It took a long time before we could playtest it properly, but eventually, it turned out great in the end.

Creating this unique game we went through some hard times, we made changes and created time-consuming little details that make Down the Rabbit Hole so charming.

We gathered 5 interesting facts that you didn't know about Down the Rabbit Hole.
So let's see what these are:

- There was supposed to be a room under the kitchen with a bunch of drawers but it was cut due to time constraints
- All the textures in the game have a high level of hand-painted details
- The Upside Down world was really tricky to make - our heroine’s Cloak was tricky to not go upside down
- In early versions of the game, you could turn into a mouse by drinking a potion
- Originally, you moved the characters by hand. You would grab them and show them the way.

We hope to give you more interesting details on creating the game in the future. But until then,

See you in Wonderland!

In Down the Rabbit Hole, you can meet lots of memorable characters during your journey through Wonderland. They were all created with love and with special care for every single detail.

We asked our 2D graphic artists, Alex Bengtsson and Max Huusko, what they think about the characters:

What is your favorite character from the game and why?
- Alex: Probably the King of Spades. I love all his dialogues with his "smart" friends. I've been watching some players do a playthrough on YouTube and I love that so many seem to share that with me!
- Max: 4 1/2, I love all his card puns!

Tell us more about making this favorite character of yours:
- Alex: (Probably the King of Spades) I wasn't part of the final design, although I did some sketches of him in early pre-production. I remember making an early sketch of him, where his throne was a large stand-in with a pattern of a King of Spades-card. I really liked that idea although it ended up just as nice with the current design!
- Max: (4 1/2) I made a few quite bizarre versions of him with real, human legs and stuff that I’m glad we scrapped. In the end, we tried to make him as 2D as possible. I don’t remember when we chose to go with a Spanish Conquistador look for him, but I think it suits him well.

Which character was the most fun to create and why?
- Alex: I really liked working on the cook. Although she's quite different from John Tenniel's illustrations - it feels like we landed a fun design and a fun personality.
- Max: I really enjoyed the caterpillar even if I wasn’t a big part of its creation. He used to be voiced by a guy in the office next to ours and he had the coolest voice, kinda wished we had kept him in.

Which character was the most difficult to create and why?
- Alex: The main character probably. We wanted to give her a strong personality without her looking like a superhero. So there was a lot of iteration to get her to a place that felt just right.
- Max: I think the main character was the one we spent the most time on for obvious reasons, it’s the main protagonist so we obviously want players to engage with her. I think we had a clear vision with her from the start though, so I don’t think we struggled too hard with her.

Which character do you think gets the least love and why?
- Alex: The trumpet guy next to the king of spades. He's such a talented guy that deserves better!
- Max: I wonder how many players get to see all three versions of Patches.

If you could, what type of character would you add to the game?
- Alex: There are so many, but I really miss Tweedledee & Tweedledum. I think that would add a ton to an already fun dialogue!
- Max: Definitely the fish footman!

Welcome to the Cheshire Cat Forest!

The Forest is a dark place with the sun peeking through to show you the way out. You can see gloomy, mysterious, and cold details of the Forest in the background, while the other parts of the scene are quite cheerful with warm tones. This is definitely one of our favorite scenes in the game.

Did you know that the Cheshire Cat Forest was the first area we finished and was used as a demo during conventions? After extensive playtesting of that area, we cut down the amount of dialogue and made the maze less confusing.

With you onboard, giving us feedback and loving our game, together we achieved great successes in the last year. We cannot be more proud of Down the Rabbit Hole's nominations which would've never happened without you!

Our nominations:
- Best of Quest 2020 - Winner
- SXSW 2021 - VR Game of the year
- DICE Awards 2021 - Finalist
- Raindance 2020
- VR Awards 2020
- NAVGTR - Control Design VR
- Million Pixels 2020
- VR Focus Best VR Game of 2020
- Swedish Design Awards 2020
- Indiecade 2020
- Venice Film Festival 2020

Thank you all!

Friday, March 26, 2021

Time flies, folks!

Today, it has been a whole year since we opened up the gates to our virtual reality Wonderland. We created a world where up is down and down is up. Little did we know that the real world would turn out the same. We are glad to have provided so many of you with another world to escape to during these difficult times.

Stay safe, and thank you!


Even though DTRH has become well known to VR adventurers worldwide, few details have been revealed about the game’s making. We now want to celebrate our One Year Anniversary by sharing 5 things you didn’t know about Down the Rabbit Hole!

#1 - The Pit before Wonderland
The original proof of concept had nothing to do with Alice in Wonderland. Back then, the diorama was a dark and twisted place called “The Pit.” At the beginning of the game, the little house is the only object that made it all the way from the proof of concept to the final game.

#2 - The Mirror Realm vs Cortopia Studios
During months of playtesting, the Mirror Realm was our developers’ biggest nemesis. This part of the game tended to break down almost every time it was played.

#3 - “Scaramanga”
For a long time, the project’s code name was “Scaramanga,” named after the James Bond villain with the same name. In our shared drives, references can still be found, confusing the hell out of our team’s newer members.

#4 - A hand-painted Wonderland
All the characters in Down the Rabbit Hole are hand-animated by Cortopia Studios’ Concept and 3D Artists. The same goes for the textures, which have high levels of hand-painted details throughout the game.

#5 - Easter Eggs
Several Easter Eggs have been hidden in DTRH. Pay close attention as you tumble through. Next time you tumble through Wonderland, pay close attention, and you might find: Hidden “Help me” notes from our team, the sound of a classic “Wilhelm Scream,” and photos of Cortopia Studios’ two office dogs Purjo and Bobo, among other things!


It is indeed a special day for Cortopia Studios. In fact, this day is so special for us that we have spontaneously decided to give stuff away for free. A new Anniversary Giveaway starts today and runs until Wednesday, March 31st. It offers everyone the chance to win a Down the Rabbit Hole gift pack that includes 1 FREE copy of DTRH, 1 DTRH T-shirt and 1 DTRH cup!

All you have to do to participate in the Giveaway is:
1) Follow Down the Rabbit Hole on social media,
2) Like the post, and
3) Mention one friend in a comment.

Good luck!

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