CatchMaker

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• Announcements·3 Aug 2026Official

  New Friends

  Hello everyone, and welcome to another devlog! We are buzzing to share the latest updates with you all! This month, we are going a little bit more in-depth about the character design process, sharing some news regarding the new trailer, talking a little about the progress on the playable demo, and introducing our two newest critters. New Characters, aka how John and Jean became SvenWe were working on adding two new villagers from our list of characters, but things didn’t go exactly as planned… One was John, a very fashion forward, glitzy and glamourous fashion designer, who needed a break from living in the big city. His profile and design alone went through a couple changes. John’s initial concept art John’s second concept artThen there was Jean. He would stand out through his extreme optimism and kindness that seemingly no one could take away from him. Even when faced with negativity or mean comments, he would spin them into something lovely. Jean’s early concept artIn the end however, we decided that they would be merged into one character.. Thus, Sven was born, an eccentric, but kind older gentleman, who supports Loddie and provides fashion advice in the form of character customization options.    Sven  Next in line was his brother Bill, who acts as a foil to Sven’s bubbly personality. He is more of the typical “grumpy old man”. A little cold and grey, but ultimately he cares about his home island and the people who live on it. He’s more of an acquired taste because we appreciate all kinds of characters, but he’ll surely grow on you over time…🙂 Bill's concept art with his brother, Sven, for comparison Now Sven and Bill share a role on the island and we’re curious to see if you could guess what that would be. As a hint I’ll say that it is important to have someone taking care of this for the safety of the people coming to the island and it can be quite the enlightening profession. Leave a comment or hit us up on social media to tell us your guess!New Trailer Comi...
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• Announcements·2 Jul 2026Official

  New Forest, Who Dis?

  Hello everyone, this month we’ve been working on a couple more mechanical reworks, an additional biome, and added a feature requested by the community. So let’s get right into it!Red Bug, Green BugSince catching bugs makes up a big part of the gameplay we wanted to make the mechanic a bit more engaging. So we implemented a “red light, green light” system.When approaching a bug, an eye icon will appear showing the bug's attention. When it is closed, the bug is distracted and you can approach it. When it is open however, it is on the lookout for any suspicious movement (like a woman with a big net approaching it). So you need to hold still until the eye icon closes again. There is a 3 strike system so the bug will not immediately disappear, but run around too much and the critters will flee!Sprucing Things UpIf you’ve seen last month’s entry, you know we added a Birch Forest to the map. We have pretty much completed that part of the map and started work on the Spruce Forest biome. The Spruce Forest offers shade and fresh air cooled by the nearby waterfall.And it is also the home of our newest addition to the island, Lindsay the lumberjill. She can appear a bit aloof at first but cares a great deal about the forest and its inhabitants.Same Bugs New NamesDuring some showcases, fans were asking if it was possible to rename bugs after you catch them. We hadn’t initially planned for this, but after popular demand, it is now possible! So you can make your very own buggy romance stories come true. It's always great to hear from you guys. We can't wait to get an early version of the game in your hands. It is taking a bit longer than expected but we want to make sure you guys get a good first hand impression.Make sure to follow us on our socials for regular updates ❤️
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• Announcements·2 Jun 2026Official

  The Dating Bar (not the kind with drinks)

  Hello, future entomologists! It’s time for another quick update on CatchMaker. Aside from trying to get some funding, we have been rethinking the way we approach dating, so let’s get right into it!Dating ReworkedWe felt the date UI wasn’t giving the player sufficient information. While you could gain a general sense of how the date was going, it was hard to understand why it was going that way and what impacted the process. This made it hard to predict whether the outcome would be failure, an OK match, or a perfect couple!So, we decided to rework how dates work and also how we represented its progress during the actual date itself. Each bug has attributes they LOVE, others that they HATE, and a bunch that they are INDIFFERENT about. During a date, they will make comments about the traits of the OTHER bug, e.g., “I love your colorful body.” or “I hate that you have a hard shell.”, etc. Depending on their PERSEVERANCE bugs will be able to take a certain number of negative comments before their heart is broken. You can think of this as how many “lives” they have. This is now clearly shown in the UI in the size and color of their heart: the larger and warmer it is, the more the bug perseveres. Every negative comment they receive shrinks it a little bit more, and if it pops completely, and the date fails.The other part is EAGERNESS, which determines how excited they are to find a partner in general. The “love bar” starts at the two sides of the screen, next to each bug, and positive comments push the hearts closer together towards the center where they meet and meld into one. This is the best possible outcome, a perfect match! The UI now also represents this by a number of “checkpoints” the hearts need to go through before meeting in the middle. One positive comment fills the bar to the next checkpoint.Now, there is a lot more going under the hood that will make every date an exciting and rewarding event, but we’re hoping that these changes will give you a clear understa...
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• Announcements·6 May 2026Official

  Postcards, Polaroids and Pre-Alpha

  Hello hello hello and welcome to the devlog! Today I’m gonna pull back the curtain a little to give you guys an idea on what we have been working on behind the scenes. I’m also going to give you a sneak peek of the postcard collectibles and the game’s polaroid cutscenes. Vertical Slice DemoSo what is a vertical slice? In a nutshell, a vertical slice is a demo of the game in its raw form. It serves as a sort of proof of concept, both for the tech and gameplay. We’ve been working hard on polishing and refining a bunch of mechanics, many of which will still probably change over the development of the game, but we’ve reached a point where we can send a demo to publishers so we can show off what we have and talk about a potential collab.You can find a short video presenting the current state of the game on YouTube:PolaroidsWe’ve also added polaroids that work like cutscenes for more dynamic moments in the game. Here is a little snapshot of a seagull stealing Loddie’s backpack just after she arrives on the island.PostcardsIn CatchMaker you will be pairing up critters throughout your playthrough. But some bugs match up better than others. To reward players for getting a perfect match we added postcards. When two bugs match, they go on a honeymoon and in case of a perfect match, they will send Loddie a postcard to thank her for her help. These can be collected and displayed, so you can always remember your favorite couples.Thank you for reading our latest devlog. Have any more questions or you would like to just chat with us? Hit us up on any of our social media pages and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
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• Announcements·26 Mar 2026Official

  A Map to My Heart

  Hello everyone, so this month we’ve been working on a couple things that aren’t ready to be shown off just yet. However we’d like to hear your thoughts on what we can share already.Island MapAs Loddie, the main character, explores the island, she will sketch a map in her journal marking any points of interest. You will also be able to add stickers to make note of things like what lures or insects can be found there. New Character Models and AnimationsAlong with reworking all the animations for Loddie to make them more readable for the high camera angle we added 3D models and animations for some of the NPC. Here are just a couple of them.On the left is Terry having a look at a clipboard that has very important sciency stuff on it no doubt. And next to her is Nick looking dapper in his new chicken hoodie.My personal favourite however might be the new animations for the sheep.Concept ArtWe are still designing new bugs to add to the game. What do you think of this concept art for a possible new bug? The blue winged variation is actually based on a real bug.The real world counterpart for the blue winged stick bug is the “Metallic Stick Insect” (Achrioptera fallax). It looks so cool that it didn’t need that much tweaking to fit in the game.That’s it for this month. We always love to get your feedback so keep it coming! As always you can reach us through our socials where we post updates regularly.
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