Hey friends!

Excited to say that the playtest for Mudborne is launching now on Steam! You can request access over on the the store page here, just scroll down a bit to the "Join the Mudborne Playtest" section and click the big button!
https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/2355150/Mudborne/
The playtest will unlock starting this weekend until 2nd Feb!

This will be a playtest of the full game, limited to the first 3 regions - Spawning Pools, Central Junction, and Kindergarten. If you've played the demo this will still be quite different, as the demo has it's own map.

If you can't wait to play Mudborne this is the time to get a froggy fix!

The goal of the playtest is mainly just to see how people find it, both APICO players and new players alike, and check you're all having fun. I have no expectations for anyone who wants to try it out, however there is a feedback form linked in-game that I'd appreciate you filling in when you're done! Any bug reports are also appreciated <3

The playtest is limited to 3 areas and only contains 1/3 of all frogs, mushrooms, and bugs of the full game. I'd say there's maybe 10 hours of content-ish but I genuinely have no clue!

If you want to chat with other players, you can use the new shiny channel "mudborne-playtest" channel in the discord[tngineers.com] to discuss the playtest and help avoid other players getting spoilers.

It's worth noting that playtest saves will NOT be able to be used in the full game, as like the demo they also have their own map.

I'll be granting access to anyone waiting in the queue starting this weekend! If you're a streamer or content creator it's okay to make streams/videos, just make sure it's clear to your viewers this is part of the playtest not the final release

If you're still holding out for release to play everything then 1. I applaud your resolve and 2. you won't have to wait too much longer...

Hey friends, and happy new year <3
I hope you all had a lovely break and are ready for the 2025!

Here's a little recap of what I've been up to this past year:

---

2024 was the first year of me doing gamedev full-time, for the whole year! It's certainly different to back when I was making APICO on the side of a full-time job (and later freelance work). I feel a lot more pressure that what I make has to be 'good', and by 'good' I mean good enough to pay the rent.

With a lot of APICO's gameplay, I just did what I personally thought would be fun, and the end result is a weird combination of things but those who get it, love it. With Mudborne I've been trying to do the same thing, but I have a lot more worries about certain mechanics or moments that I wouldn't have if it wasn't tied to keeping the lights on.

I can't say I'd ever go back to my old job all the time I can sustain myself making games (the big red date on my whiteboard tells me I have until October 2026 until I run out of money!), but it definitely has been a noticeable change doing art for money instead of hobby.

With APICO done, all the games I'm making are all in my own engine built on top of the LÖVE framework, and it's made things so much quicker to create. At the time of writing Mudborne is very nearly finished up, and it's taken only 8 months in total working full-time on it.

I'd love to get into a place where I can comfortably making a game every year or so, without feeling rushed. I have so many different ideas I'd love to make, and only so much time!

---

APICO had it's 3rd and final (sorry) content update, "A Hive Of Industry". This update added a bunch of automation machines, plus a lot of stuff you all asked for, including pets, decoration and a butt-tonne of QoL tweaks.

I've also done a few little bug fix patches here and there which I'm sure gave you all a bit of false hope on new content when the download queued!

It was nice to finally 'finish' up APICO - sometimes I wish I never did any of the content updates but I think looking at it now I'm happy with where it ended up, even if it's still a lil janky and bloated and I think all the art looks wack.

I'd love to come back to it one day, in a seperate game. When I drew up the new credit postcards (above) I had fun invisioning a game where you do go to the mainland and help clean up the environment using your bees. I think it'd be nice to take the same APICO gameplay, streamline some of it and make it all fit better (especially the money making side), and then expand the bees to all have functions in restoring nature.

However I think that'll need to wait a while as I have 2 game children screaming at me to finish, and a bunch of other ideas I want to get started on!

---

I don't often join gamejams, mostly because of the time limits they have, or I just don't personally have any time - but in 2024 I joined the LÖVE Jam, for games made with the framework.

I was still learning the framework at the time and tinkering with the engine I'd made to create the Snacktorio demo, so I thought it'd be a good opportunity to have a break from the APICO stuff that was getting me down at the time, and learn a bit more of the framework.

I was really happy with the end result - 'Synthesis'. I wanted to make a puzzle game with different modules like what you get with old patch synthesisers. As you mess with the different modules it changes the patterns drawn until you eventually come across the combination needed to match the required shape.

I also made a point not to ever explain any module's function - you just learn through doing very basic levels and then the rest you just learn overtime by doing. I wanted it to feel very experimenty for the player.

It was really fun to put this together! I had 10 days and pretty much used them all. I also did the music for it because I wanted to start practicing music creation for Mudborne, and was interesting in having the music 'evolve' with the puzzle progress.

I think it'd be cool to revisit one day as a 'full' game, as you could have lots of different module types and interactions, and let players connect modules themselves in different orders which then affects the outcome.

If you want to check out the game you can get it over on itch.io here:
https://ellraiser.itch.io/synthesis

---

Ah Mudborne, my beloved. I've spent what feels like an eternity working on this game, when it's only been 8 months. I think I've stared at frogs more than I have the real world, but I've enjoyed pretty much every part of it.

It's been an interesting process, first I did like concept art for the rough game, and worked on all the individual mechanics - then I worked on the actual world development and story and tied it all together.

After the new demo was finished up, I spent a long time just designing the entire world and how everything connects, then piecing together the story. The writing in this one was definitely a killer as I've never written like a proper big story, let alone one with a few twists and turns.

I wanted something players could piece together themselves, and get clues from all over the place to work out certain things, so there was a lot involved in making sure it all fit together nicely. At the time of writing this I've just finished up all the final dialogue lines, and now it's just a lot of drawing and polish left to go.

I'm planning to do a private playtest in the Discord[tngineers.com] this month for the first time, so I can try and streamline any tutorialisation stuff and see if I've made things a bit _too_ difficult. I'm pretty confident it's a fun game but it's weird how hard it gets to judge that the longer you work on making the game.

Once the playtest is over it'll just be some last little bits to tweak and any changes to make and it'll be ready to release! Crazy to think it'll be my second published game. If you haven't already be sure to give it a wishlist! You can also check out the demo still:
https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/2355150/Mudborne/

---

As for 2025, I'm not sure yet what I'll be doing! The only thing I do know is Mudborne will be released this year, which is very exciting, I just can't say when yet.

After that, I'm not sure - I'll need a long break that's for certain. I'd like to start working on Snacktorio proper and get that finished, but it depends on my brothers workload (he still has a 'real' job). He did a lot of the work on the game design of Snacktorio and has a good idea for the levels, so I wouldn't want to really do it without him.

If he is free, then I imagine Snacktorio will get polished off this year, maybe an early 2026 release! If not then I'll just have to work down the list to the next game idea and get started...

A big thank you to everyone who played any of my games in 2024, all of the new APICO players, returning players for the 4.0 update, froggy friends excited for mudborne - without all of you I wouldn't be able to do this and I'm extremely grateful.

Here's to 2025!
~ Ell

Hey friends - IT'S NEW GAME TIME!

I’m excited to announce that Mudborne’s new demo is out RIGHT NOW on Steam:

https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/2355150/Mudborne/

I’m also excited to announce that the lovely folks at Future Friends[futurefriends.lol] will be helping to publish your new fav froggy game with me. Check out the trailer below for a sneak peak of what you're in for:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJq7u9hcAUg&ab_channel=TNgineersOfficial
A spiritual successor of sorts to APICO, Mudborne instead focuses on genetic manipulation and generational puzzles to create and discover all sorts of frog species, that act as keys to let you travel between the waking and dreaming worlds - the demo takes you through the main mechanics and creating 8 different species. If you love APICO I think you’ll love this, there’s a lot of stuff I’m doing differently but you should still feel right at home.



Whether you played the original gamejam version or not you’re in for a treat, as this is a completely new game, new art, new mechanics, new music, new engine - the whole works. I’m really looking forward to you all getting your slimy green hands on it, I hop you enjoy!! <3

Dampest regards,
Ell

Hi friends, hope you’re doing well!

It’s already the beginning of a new month, and you know the drill: it’s time for a new recap!

---

APICO took part in Humble's Exceptional Indie Allies Bundle[www.humblebundle.com], along with 6 other amazing games, to celebrate Black History Month and raise money for NPower[www.npower.org].

Big thanks to everyone who supported the cause - so far you’ve helped raise over $25,000! (Also if you’re quick you can still grab the bundle today!)

---

Ell took a little week break from finishing APICO’s Honeycore Update to join this year’s LÖVE[love2d.org] game jam with their submission, “Synthesis”! In Ell’s own words;

Originally posted by ellraiser:

this year the theme was “interface” so… you know I had to! I wanted to make a bit of an abstract puzzle game where the player isn't taught any controls and has to learn through trial and error, and I'm happy with how it all ended up! It was also my first time making music for a game so... enjoy that lol

You can try out the jam game over on itch.io here![ellraiser.itch.io]

---

Whitethorn Games, APICO’s publisher, held a celebration of gaming across all the games in their catalogue through a showcase and Steam event (you can catch the vod here)

While we didn’t have anything to show, there was some nice sneak peaks at our sibling games, like Magical Delicacy and Botany Manor!

---

It’s been a bit of a slow year so far, with not much to share while Ell plugs away at finishing the final update, however we have got some lovely things planned for the 4.0 launch to look forward to, so be sure to keep an eye out.

We’ll also havs the Steam Spring Sale[steamdb.info] coming very soon (March 14th!) with the deepest discount to-date for APICO and the soundtracks, so a perfect time to pick up APICO and catch up with everything before the last update

---

Aaand that was February at TNgineers! As always, thank you so much for your support <3

Take care!
Manon, Ell and Jamie

Hi friends!

A new year is upon us, and it’s been a bit of a manic start with Ell moving house but we’re back on track now!

---

As you may have seen on our socials, pets are coming to APICO along with the final “Honeycore” update! To celebrate, we held a design-your-own-pet competition (which receieved over 200 submissions!), and narrowed down the cuties to just five finalists, which were put up to a vote by all of you[forms.gle].

Although the dino was the vote winner by a small margin, everyone found it super difficult to pick - and why should they have to? We’ve decided that all five designs will be winners[imgur.com], so you’ll be able to enjoy all of them as pets in the final update - congratulations to all the artists! <3

---

Ells been working hard on the Honeycore Update, and you might have seen some bits and bobs on our socials and on Discord!

New cute decor and furniture, light automation, moving crates & beeboxes without emptying them… we've been very glad to see your reactions to all the new things we’ve planned for this last update and can’t wait to let you all get your hands on it!

---

For those of you who use Amazon Prime Gaming[gaming.amazon.com], APICO is currently part of the free Prime games you can claim! You have until February 14th to claim it[gaming.amazon.com] - once you do it’ll be added to your library indefinitely!

This is the same as the latest Steam / PC release, so you get all of the same nautical goodness.

---

Coming very shortly after this recap, Whitethorn Games (APICO’s publisher!) will be having their Whitethorn Winter Showcase[whitethorngames.com]! This is a celebration of gaming magic across all the other sister games, so be sure to check it out to see what other new games are coming that might bee off interest to you.

There’s also a new Humble Bundle[www.humblebundle.com] where you can get APICO along with some other fantastic games, all to help celebrate Black History Month and raise money for NPower, so if you’re still looking to pick up APICO as well as support a wonderful cause this is your chance!

---

And that’s it for this first recap of 2024! Big thanks for your amazing support <3

Take care!
Manon, Ell and Jamie

2023 is almost at an end, and it’s been a busy ol’ year looking back! Here’s a lil ellraiser/TNgineer wrapped…

---

Started the year off strong dropping a demo for Rift Breach, an experimental lil dungeon crawler.

This was super fun to make, and helped me get better at scoping small as well as got my out of my usual pixel art comfort zone!

---

Then FletchMakes hosted a 7 day gamejam + I couldn’t resist making the “APICO but frogs” I’d always joked about

Mudborne was born(e) + I was overwhelmed with how much people loved it. It also showed me just how much I can get done with a super strict scope and detailed plan!

---

APICO had it’s 1st birthday! From a silly concept made in HTML to now published on all platforms with over 50,000 beekeepers playing - truly never thought it would go anywhere

I’m forever grateful to everyone who’s played and shared this funky bee game

---

At this point trying to keep up with socials for 3 different games was getting far too much and I needed help - enter @mibyledraws who joined as the first official TNgineer!

Thank you for all your hard work, wonderful videos, and helping me keep on top of everything <3

---

I got round to releasing the 2nd free content update for APICO, "What Lies Beeneath”, with all sorts of weird and wonderful ocean friends

It’s been tough to keep working on this mess of a game, but it’s worth it to see how much people have been enjoying all the new content

---

Decided that I wanted to take the Mudborne concept into a full-game, and started planning out everything along with a new art style and vibe for it (there’s only so far a sprite-rip of APICO can go lmao)

It’s wild to see how far I’ve started to come from tiny rectangle trees!

---

Towards the end of the year I left my freelance contract + went full-time gamedev, not quite by choice but it was something I wanted to do for a while

I’ll now be able to spend all my time on the games, as well as all the other little concepts I’ve had bubbling away...

---

I moved from GameMaker to LÖVE, built a small framework for future games like Snacktorio + Mudborne, and contributed to the engine itself

Was the first time actually helping making a substantial contribution to an open-source project and I learnt a lot!

---

After a couple years in + out of development and a last minute engine change to LÖVE, I finally finished + released the demo for Snacktorio

We’ve had some amazing feedback and it’s been so gratifying to finally get it out and see people enjoy it

---

Looking ahead to 2024, it’ll be my first year as a full-time gamedev (as well as reaching lvl 30!)

I’m planning to release the final update for APICO, as well as releasing either Mudborne or Snacktorio - might even have to drop some new demos too, as a treat…

---

Thanks for everyone who has supported me and TNgineers throughout the year.

Whether that was playing the demos, buying the games, sharing your progress, joining the discord, posting wholesome reviews, sending me cute bee pics - I’m truly grateful to you all <3

Hi friends!

It’s almost December, which means it’s time to recap what happened last month!

---

The demo for our factory-cooking simulator, Snacktorio, has finally been released! Thanks so much to all of you chefs, players and content creators for your support <3

If you’d like to get a taste of what’s in store you can watch the trailer below, or just go try out the demo on Steam!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIsDeQQokwM

---

In the middle of the month we snuggled up and celebrated cozy games through the Cozy Quest Festival hosted on Steam, with APICO and Mudborne!

The organizers, Secret Mode, hosted a lovely stream to try out some of the games and demo taking part in the festival, and played the Mudborne demo while interviewing Ell, which you can watch here[www.twitch.tv].

---

Our little froggy nature-sim reached 10,000 wishlists last month! We are so happy and thankful to each and every single person who’s supported Mudborne, played it, and wishlisted it on Steam. Here’s all 10,000 of you, live in-game:

---

Aaand that’s it for this month’s recap! Thanks for sticking with us and keeping the soups coming :)

Take care!
Manon, Ell and Jamie

Hi friends!

A month passed by since our last newsletter, here’s what’s been going on!

---

We joined the Frog Con[frogcon.frogcult.org], an online convention for frog lovers that mixes educational panels with creative works, in the middle of the month. Mudborne was one of the froggy games and got played during the convention!

For the occasion, we shared more about the game on our socials, as well as some redesign work-in-progress sneak peeks!

---

A fellow beekeeper created a checklist tracker & guide spreadsheet[docs.google.com] for APICO! It’s truly an amazing resource, and includes the Ocean Update (3.0) new content.

Thank you so much DeluxeGremlin for this!

---

Fellow beekeeper Hazel shared this screenshot of her base in our community discord[tngineers.com]! Between the rainbow hive garden and the Mothense concert for the NPCs, it’s a dream place to bee. If you want to share you’re own cute pics you should come join us!

In other APICO news, the lovely Chelsea, that you may know as myPotatoGames on Twitter, wrote a very wholesome review of our beekeeping sim[mypotatogames.com]! It’s always heartwarming to hear such nice feedback <3

---

Last month, our discord bot beebot started sharing a beemoji mashup everyday, and that gave us an idea: what if you could make your own mashup, and beebot could send it to the server?

You can now submit your mashup by filling this form[forms.gle], and it’ll get added to the bot’s daily posts! :D

---

That’s it for this month’s recap! Thanks for sticking with us and keeping these hives buzzing, it’s been a quiet month but we have some exciting stuff coming next time!

Take care!
Manon, Ell and Jamie

Hi friends!

September is already gone and oh boy, what a month! APICO’s second major update came out - “What Lies Beeneath” :D

---

What Lies Beeneath launched on September 26 on PC! Beekeepers can now explore the ocean, restore coral reefs, clean the seabed, fish… and, of course, discover all the new bees (including underwater ones!!). You can check out the patch notes here to see all the new stuff added.

If you’re a console player, no worries! The update will eventually come to you, and we’ll make sure to let you all know when it happens <3

---

To celebrate the new update, APICO and its amazing soundtracks (I’m not the one who composed it so I can say it) are currently on sale on Steam!

The game is 45% off, and the soundtracks are each 50% off until October 10th ✨

---

We experimented a bit with the discord server this month: after a short career in sending cute bee pics, beebot switched to beemojis creation. Some are cuter than others, but it’s a little surprise everyday!

We’ve also been very happy to see the players enjoy the update and sharing tips (and bugs) in the server, feel free to stop by[tngineers.com]! <3

---

In October, we’ll join Frog Con[frogcon.frogcult.org], a lovely online convention for frog lovers that raises funds for amphibian conservation. In the middle or froggy cams, the artist alley and educational streams, Mudborne will take part to the con as a froggy game, October 13-23

Be sure to check it out, along with the other amazing froggy games[frogcon.frogcult.org] we’ll be alongside!

---

And that’s a wrap for September! We wish you all a good spooky month!

Take care,
Manon, Ell & Jamie