Froggy Frog Games

Factsheet

Developer:
Froggy Frog Games
Based in Breda, Netherlands

Release date:
7 July, 2023

Platforms:
Steam
Nintendo Switch

Website:

Regular Price:

Description

Jello is a physics-based platformer redefining movement mechanics. Jump, slap, slide, swim and roll using your controller or mouse in an unconventional, tactile way

History

The first prototype of Jello was made in 2015 by Anton Gavrilov as a university assessment. It was made out of colored cubes, the game was extremely challenging, but the physics and controls were there. The jello's physics were not at all made "correctly" and had many things that would be considered mistakes for actual physics programming. It is those mistakes, however, that work together and make jello what it is.

In 2019, during the final year of his bachelor, Anton decided to start re-making Jello in Unity. He poured through the code made in 2015. Though he cleaned the code and made it more efficient, the physics quirks made in 2015 were all left in as a crucial part of the game The level editor was starting to take shape as well, as he did not want to make each level uniquely by hand. The core structures for the game were also established. First half of 2019, however, Anton was doing an internship, so Jello was being worked on in the background, during train rides and in the evenings.

For the second half of 2019, Anton took on making Jello as a personal graduation project. He established the core art style, and started making the game look like something other than some cubes with colors. A lot of work was also done adding more mechanics to the game such as sliding, and making good introductory level design for people to have a smooth time starting playing the game.

After graduation, Jello fell back to being a side-project again. Development took a slow pace, but working with concept artists Alexandar and Erik helped establish more of a developed art style for the environments. The procedural system for the level editor started taking shape.

At Indigo 2020, Jello was chosen to be among top 3 games of the showcase, and some publishers expressed interest in the game, so Anton saw that it could be something more than a side-project. Through Dutch Game Garden, Anton applied for an entrepeneur visa and founded Froggy Frog Games to go for Jello full-time. In September 2021 he quit his job, and was joined by Thomas van den Heuvel as a full-time artist to work on Jello. Anton and Thomas worked on a vertical slice, developed the necessary tech for the level editor, and were pitching the project to publishers to get more funding and bring Jello to it's full potential. Though by the end of 2022 the backbone of the game was finished, no publishers were interested enough to fully fund the project and support it. Jello was unfinished, and this could have been the end of the project

Not getting a publisher was quite demotivating. Many days were spent on making the pitch and contacting many publishers, yet to no avail. Work on Jello stopped. But it would be too much of a shame to spend so much time, and not release anything in the end. This is when Anton decided to finish Jello no matter what. He finished the online capabilities for the level editor so that people would be able to share levels, hired a freelance artist to finish the final environment, and put the finishing touches on the game. Jello is releasing on July 7. It does not have an expansive story, many unique locations, and other things that were envisioned, but it's still a one of a kind platformer game which controls like no other, and has a level editor to rival Super Mario Maker.

Features

• Control the slimy character like no other platformer, squeezing and stretching it to jump and roll
• A built-in level editor with procedural decorations that lets you make beautiful levels with ease, and an online sharing system so all your friends can play your level
• Leaderboards with replays built-in, so you can see how people achieve their fastest times

Jello Credits

Anton Gavrilov
Developer

Thomas van den Heuvel
Art

Jenya Kukoverov
Music, Freelancer

Thomas Schut
Design, Part-time

Jelle de Haan
Network Programming, Freelancer

Nikianna Sofia
Art, Freelancer

Erik te Molder
Concept art, Freelancer

Alexandar Dushkov
Concept art, Freelancer

Contact

Inquiries
contact@froggyfroggames.com