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Meet The Heroes #5 - Pochette

[h2]Hey, Backpackers![/h2]

It’s time for our 5th hero’s backstory!

[h3] Last but not least, Pochette - a hedgehog with a secret![/h3]
Pets in the dungeon? Why not! Pochette’s playstyle is based on cute little creatures that help her during combat! Pets act like individual characters with individual backpacks and different gimmicks. What’s Pochette’s backstory? Let’s find out!

Pochette was born within the Oakshire Forest during the height of the Long March, where the Badger Kingdom was invading villages across the forest to excavate the dungeon for relics of power. When she was young, Pochette’s village was one of the unfortunate places ransacked and conscripted by the Badger King. In the chaos, Pochette’s family was captured and sent to be slaves in the Dungeon Mines deep beneath the Badger Castle. Before that though, Pochette’s mother sent her in a basket down the Dandylion River so that she may be spared.

Pochette drifted down the current crying for her parents, for what seemed like days she wept - until she was discovered by a kindly hermit crab. The crab who would become known to pochette as Mama took pity upon the small beast and took her under a shell where she would raise her as her own amongst the mysterious tribes of crabs, snails, and insects within the deep Bramble of the wood, where the forest and dungeon become indistinguishable. Thought by most to be nothing but savage animals, those native to the bramble are not uncivilized or unintelligent, just different.



Communicating through body language, feeling, and scent, Pochette learned these things whilst living with Mama, her mate Papa, and Pochette’s honorary little sister Bebe. Pochette grew up and thrived here amongst the Bramble Tribes, learning how to navigate this upper portion of the dungeon. Pochette lived happily there for all her childhood, but something changed one day. A beast not too different from Pochette showed up, exhausted and wounded. Pochette discovered her collapsed deep within the Bramble.



Though it was generally forbidden to make contact with the beasts not native to the tribes, Pochette felt compelled to help the wounded creature. Taking her back to the Tribe, Pochette convinced the tribal elders to help nurse the young chipmunk back to health. It was close, but slowly the beast began to regain its health. Pochette, and the chipmunk she learned to be named Duffel became fast friends. Though Pochette knew very little of the common beast tongue, they had an understanding as hunters and explorers in the bramble. Duffel told her of the troubles outside the Bramble and the valiant Patrol of the Oakshire Forest, and how she was an elite scout sent to explore the great Dungeon.



Through their meetings, Pochette began to learn more of the common tongue and of the culture of her blood-kin. Slowly she began to feel kinship towards the people of the Forest - with vague memories flashing before her eyes of the destruction of her village and her parents sending her down the river. Pochette felt a tinge of pain there and at that moment decided to help the Patrol - with some of her best friends, Pochette acts as a guide and emissary for the Bramble Tribes! Though there are many tribes within the bramble, and many are more cautious of outsiders than Pochettes, she is working hard to guide the Patrol through the Bramble, and find a mutual understanding between the tribes and the forest dwellers.

[h3] What did Pochette’s development look like?[/h3]
Pochette was the fifth character unlocked in our Kickstarter, and the fourth released. She was actually decided to be added based off of a community poll with three other heroes, and she won it! Don't worry about the three that didn't win though, we decided to add them as post release updates! Their names are Knapsack, Pockets and Bindle.

An old version of Pochette's gameplay - gif from Never Nathaniel's video

From the start we had a pretty firm idea of Pochette being a pet based character, and how that would look in an inventory management game. She has proved to be quite a challenge to balance and make her feel good to play - we are still working on that. She has undergone some of the most drastic changes of any character gameplay wise. A lot of players who have been around a while may remember her old way of playing where pets could hold any items instead of treats.

Bebe and Jerry, the very first two pets Gangs drew

That’s it, folks! Now you know the story of all the heroes! Hope you learned something interesting about each character. You’ll definitely be able to discover more lore once Haversack Hill is out!

So, who’s your favorite character and why?

Thank you for reading and for your support! ❤️

Originally posted by author
READ ABOUT OTHER HEROES: Purse Satchel Tote CR-8


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1970580/Backpack_Hero/

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Meet The Heroes #4 - CR-8

[h2]Hey, Backpackers![/h2]

Are you ready to learn about another character?

[h3] It’s time to meet CR-8 (pronounced as crate), a very special robot![/h3]
If you’re passionate about mechatronics, you’ll love CR-8’s playstyle! Instead of having the energy system, CR-8 has a core that creates a beam which activates items in its path. How did this robot come to life though?

CR-8 knows little of its past. It simply blinked to life one day somewhere deep in the dungeon. It knew nothing about the world or its own purpose. All it had was a feeling of loss and sadness. CR-8 felt that something was missing, something it could never get back.

Sometimes, when deep in the dungeon, CR-8 could hear a call. A call in a voice that once felt so warm and friendly, but has been warped and modulated into something unrecognizable. CR-8 followed this voice deeper and deeper, ignoring the dangers of the dungeon, but it was always distant. After a long period of wandering, CR-8 eventually shut off.

CR-8 was found rusted and in disrepair by Constance, a mouse living in Haversack Hill. She had never seen anything like it! With the help of her old friend, Matthew, they dragged the robot out of the dungeon and attempted to repair it. It was challenging work as they didn’t know exactly how CR-8’s intricate circuitry worked. They pieced it together as best they could, putting Constance's old clockmaking hobby to good use. The repair wasn’t a perfect recreation of CR-8’s complex electrical engineering. Most of its wiring had been replaced with clockwork gears after all. But still, it blinked to life for a time!

Unfortunately CR-8 was now required to be wound regularly. But it wasn’t an issue at all for the genius duo! This time, Matthew provided the solution. Taking a patch from his magical bag, and an old relic he found deep in the dungeon, he fashioned a power backpack that could keep CR-8 running on a single wind up for days!



Extremely grateful for Constance's help, CR-8 vowed to help her and stay with her forever. Constance loved CR-8 like a child, and CR-8 thought of Constance as the mother it had lost. Or was that a friend? This feeling of loss would never leave CR-8 though, and it would still feel the call of the dungeon. It relayed this desire and feeling to Constance, and she supported him in his quest to feel whole again. CR-8 began to delve into the dungeon looking for the signal it had once followed. It also brought up supplies to help his new mother figure with her research.

[h3] CR-8 might not remember much about his past, but we do![/h3]
…at least when it comes to his development. CR-8 was the third character unlocked in our Kickstarter campaign, and the second to be released. Out of all of the additional characters he has changed the least, in that he was always meant to be an auto-battler type character. The method of how he did that went through a few iterations until we found the right feel with his components. Originally he had activation "spaces" in the center of his bag, but that was quickly scrapped.

Gif from Retromation's video

The biggest challenge of CR-8’s development was actually just getting him to work in the first place, and balance. In fact, we plan to have his update that fixes a lot of his long standing issues shortly before release, so if you're a CR-8 fan you have that to look forward to!

Plus, Constance, the mouse who helped CR-8, is one of the people you’ll meet in Haversack Hill soon!

How do you like CR-8's story?

Next week you'll learn about the last character, Pochette!

Originally posted by author
READ ABOUT OTHER HEROES: Purse Satchel Tote Pochette


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1970580/Backpack_Hero/

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Meet The Heroes #3 - Tote

[h2]Hey, Backpackers![/h2]

Another Tuesday, another character!

[h3] Today we want to tell you a bit more about Tote, our magical frog![/h3]
Tote’s playstyle is very different! She mostly uses magical carvings. Due to her mechanic, Tote has her own specific pool of items, but it comes at the cost of being the smallest. Do you want to know more about her backstory and mission? Keep reading!

Tote comes from the Enchanted Swamp, a land in the South of Orderia. Like many of her kind, she spent her youth fascinated by the magic emanating from the Mother Tree deep within the dungeon, and her saplings scattered throughout the swamp. Living in the secluded capital city of Lilymist, Tote grew isolated from the outside world. She spent a peaceful childhood studying magic and was eventually enrolled in the prestigious College of the Dreaming, which housed the Mother Tree's first sapling - the Dreaming Tree.

The Dreaming Tree is said to be a direct line of communication to the Mother Tree herself and to be the ruler of its own realm known as the Dreaming. By communing with the trees, amphibians may begin their learning of magic without the use of mana stones. This is where Tote’s magical journey began. She was, and still is, a swift learner, quickly rising to the top of her class! In just a few short years she was prepared for her final research project and she would be deemed a full fledged mage of the swamp - a feat that for many can take a decade of studying.



She was preparing her final project when she heard a call for help. A call directly from the Dreaming Tree. A cry for its mother. Tote followed the call that pierced her very being. Through Lilymist and into a hidden entrance to the dungeon, she followed its corridors until it opened up into an underground grove. There she witnessed key members of the college defiling the Dreaming Tree's roots, tainting sap and writing dark sigils across the bark! The tree was being injured not only physically but also spiritually! Tote let out a yelp of surprise, alerting one of the members of this dark party - one of her Professors…



Knowing that she found herself in danger, Tote took off down the hallway towards the surface. As she escaped, spells whizzed past her head. She dodged them the best she could until eventually she was hit. Falling to the ground with a thud, Tote laid in a daze. Her former mentor approached her looking rueful. He had always liked her, but she was too much of a goody-two-shoes and wouldn’t understand his methods for gaining power. He began chanting a final spell to get rid of her, when suddenly a root burst from the ground, knocking him off his feet. The teacher's spell misfired and Tote was able to regain her senses and bolt up. Then she saw a bag hanging from a root. A bag imbued with the Dreaming Tree’s essence. She felt the urge to grab it and run. Following Dreaming Tree’s directions, she headed towards Oakshire Forest to look for Mother Tree.

[h3] Now that you know her story, let’s take a look at how Tote’s changed so far!
[/h3]
Tote was the second character unlocked in our Kickstarter, and was originally named Pouch, but she was the first one we actually ended up releasing. Similar to Satchel though, she went through a lot of changes in her mechanics, which is evident to many players who've been around a while because many of her iterations were released to the public.


Originally she was meant to have mana stones built into her bag, but we wanted her to be a bit more different. We tried a version where her energy was an item in the bag and was used similar to mana, but we also thought that wasn't super fun, so then we came to the idea of carvings and every version of her since then has been an iteration on that, including her most recent rework!

What do you think of Tote’s playstyle? 👀

Get ready for next week, when we’ll share another hero’s backstory!

Originally posted by author
READ ABOUT OTHER HEROES: Purse Satchel
CR-8 Pochette


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Purse invites you on an adventure!

[h2]Hey, Backpackers![/h2]

The day has come - the plushie campaign is live! You can order your very own Purse now! She stands at 16 cm and has a fully functional backpack full of items perfect for your adventure in the dungeons.

We’re very happy with how she turned out and hope you’ll like her too! Just look at her, posing with our lead dev’s cat, Clementine ❤️



Check out the Makeship campaign page for more info!

With the campaign announcement released a few days ago, we received some comments from players worried that working on the Purse plushie takes resources (both time and money) away from Backpack Hero development. We absolutely understand your concerns, so we wanted to clarify how we ended up releasing the plushie earlier than the 1.0!

We started working with Makeship last year, when we still believed the game would come out in May 2023. The timeline for this campaign was set since the beginning of our cooperation and unfortunately we couldn’t do anything to change it.

We don’t invest any money or time in the crafting process. The sales of the plushies fuel the ability to manufacture them. That’s why we need the campaign to fund them. We didn’t spend any Kickstarter money on the plushies as we wanted the full amount to be used for the game development. That was also the reason we didn’t offer any physical rewards during our Kickstarter campaign!

We’re working on the game seven days a week and hope to have some serious new content to push in the next few weeks. We’re as disappointed as you are about the delay, but we hope all that doesn't detract from your enjoyment of the game or the plushie.

Feel free to ask us anything if you still have questions!



The campaign ends on July 14th, so we have 3 weeks to reach our goal. Now it’s up to you whether the perfect packrat plushie goes into production 🐭

Order your plushie here!



https://store.steampowered.com/app/1970580/Backpack_Hero/

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Our backpack is full with your support!

[h2]Hi, Backpackers![/h2]

We just hit 3000 reviews on Steam! It's amazing to think that so many of you decided to not only play Backpack Hero, but also share your thoughts about it! It means a lot to us that most of you have had a positive experience with the game. It's very motivating and makes us work extra hard to make sure that Backpack Hero meets your expectations, especially now that the full release is on its way!

We appreciate all the reviews, both positive and negative! Your feedback helps us improve many gameplay aspects and gives us a clear path to follow. Without you, Backpack Hero wouldn't have become what it is today!

We are incredibly grateful for your support and hope you will keep giving us your feedback ❤️


We know that Summer Sale is coming very soon, but we're so excited about 3000 reviews that we decided to start it a bit earlier! So if you've been thinking about adding Backpack Hero to your Steam library, you might wanna do it now at a 20% discount!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1970580/Backpack_Hero/

And if you're a fan of the soundtrack, you can also get it 20% off 🎵

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2109040/Backpack_Hero_Soundtrack/

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