Ogu and the Secret Forest News

Hello! ːsteamhappyː

First of all, we welcome with a warm heart to all the people waiting for the game and all of you that came through the steam nextfest! This is ‘Ogu and the Secret Forest’.

We’re currently working on the build for launching the early access in March. We can’t share many details yet. So instead, for the people that are wondering how ‘Ogu and the Secret Forest’ came about, we wanted to share some thought processes that’s been considered before all this journey started. A little glimpse at the mind of developers if you will. Hope you like it!

[h2]The World Building and the Structure of the Game[/h2]






‘Ogu and the Secret Forest’ has always had a main theme of an adventure of a child who is very curious and pure.

‘Baby Ogu’ the main protagonist who is a ‘selfless curious platypus venturing into a new unknown world guided by a mysterious powerful being’ was our starting point. To create a story around this theme, we drew a lot of motifs from the famous ‘Alice in wonderland’, Studio Ghibli's ‘Spirited away’ and ‘My neighbour Totoro’.









We didn’t want the path to be linear so that the player may choose their own way of progression. This is why we decided to create a world with several differently themed regions and let the players choose which region they may want to visit. It is because of this reason we’ve decided to create the ‘Go find the Sigils’ system.

Due to the lack of development manpower with only 4 people in the whole project, of course creating something that is completely nonlinear is without a doubt a great challenge.
However, until the complete official release we’ll try our best to create something that is as unique of an experience as it can be for every other player. That is our goal.


[h2]Character Concept[/h2]




Every character design and animation has been hand drawn by the original artist ‘Jong-Beom Moon’ of the ‘Moonlab Studio’. Since the artist has a liking towards animals and bugs, you may find the unique yet somewhat familiar style of the artwork quite charming.








In the current demo version you can meet our hero ‘Baby Ogu’ and the monkeys of the ‘Village of the Sun’. However, We assure you there are a variety of animal friends such as birds, shrews, insects, hippo and many more that are eager to meet you as well!

That’s it for now! We’ll tell you more about our journey with the creation process of ‘Jungle region’, ‘Moon Forest’, ‘Desert region’ and so on. Thank you and see you again!

We're now streaming the play video of Gimgi who is the music director of Ogu and the Secret Forest.
He'll play the 3rd CBT build which is running exclusively in Korea.
In 3rd CBT, you can witness 'Moon Forest' and 'Desert' that will be opened after releasing Early Access.

https://steamcommunity.com/broadcast/watch/76561198076827281

Hey there! ːsteamhappyː

‘Ogu and the Secret Forest’ is joining ‘Steam Next Fest’ just before our early access in March!







The ‘Next Fest’ is a festival for games that are due to be released.

‘Ogu and the Secret Forest’ is planning to show some live footage of the 3rd closed beta test during this time. (We’ll let you know more about this soon!)

Check the ‘Whishlist’ button so you can receive the latest news about our game.
[h2]Please check the wishlist![/h2]




For the newcomers around, here’s some information about our latest development situation!


[h2]1. 6 separated regions[/h2]

‘Baby Ogu’ must collect 6 different sigils to save the broken world.
Each of these sigils are obtainable by adventuring the diverse regions of the world.

On early access in March, you can adventure in 3 of these regions.



[h3][/h3]


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These regions include a variety of contents such as boss fights, puzzles, enemy defence, and many types of mini-games appropriate to each region’s style and concept.








[h2]2. Collectables[/h2]

During the exciting adventure throughout these various regions, you will come across a variety of collectables. These include flying butterflies, beetles hanging on trees, bugs found in a bush and so on. All of these collectable insects are then able to be exhibited in a museum somewhere in the world.











And there’s more on its way! For example rare fruits, fish, minerals, ceramic pottery just to name a few. Please stay tuned for these exciting collectables!

[h2]3. Housing[/h2]





The chosen hero of the world deserves a beautiful house! And what’s a house if you can’t decorate it to your liking?
The housing system will allow you to create your house as you want it to be. Variety of furniture and ornaments such as a hot spring and fireplace and many more will be included for you to enjoy your life at home.


We’ll work as hard as we can to give you the best gameplay experience and something to remember. Thank you all for the amazing support!! ːsteamhappyː

Hello! ːsteamhappyː

We attended the B2B booth at ‘Taipei Game Show 2023’ that was held from the 2nd till 4th of February.
While working hard for the early access and operating the 3rd closed beta test.









We’ve had lots of attention from many people from the game industry not only from Taiwan but also from a variety of countries.

However, the best thing that happened was the fact that ‘Ogu and the Secret Forest’ have been nominated as a finalist for ‘Best Audio’ for the ‘Taipei Game Show’s Indie Awards’!



Although we didn’t win the award, it was a great honor for us to be nominated along with the great amazing games.

Because of the nomination, the audio and music director ‘Gitae Kim’ for our game ‘Ogu and the Secret Forest’ got to do a lecture presentation for the ‘Asia Pacific Game Summit 2023(APGS)’.





Both the nomination and the conference presentation were very meaningful for all of us, and it is undoubtedly thanks to all the wonderful support and interest from you guys. And for that, we’re very honored and deeply thankful.

And for that, from various pieces of advice, we promise that we’ll carry on producing a wonderful game and make sure that “Ogu and the Secret Forest’ becomes a great experience for you all.

Thank you!!

Hello everyone! ːsteamhappyː
Hope you’ve all spent a wonderful new year.

We’ve been hard at work for the early access release this March.
After this version update on the demo, we’ll soon begin the 3rd closed beta test. (Korea Exclusive)

These are the updates for the demo version and the current development.



[h2]1. Demo Version Updates[/h2]

[h3]Monkey Sentinel[/h3]
A lot of people suggested that the amount of puzzles in the beginning area was overwhelming. So we’ve decided to include a new combat for the ‘Monkey warehouse’ and ‘The Temple of the Sun’ by including a new adversary.



The monkey sentinel will be using the rock fist ability similar to the sun golem’s attack.
During movement it will not take any damage however when it’s stationary, it will. The monkey sentinel will be stationary for it to engage the attack. So that’s when you may strike it.


[h3]Additional Garbage Monsters[/h3]
The Temple of the Sun has more enemies for combat now.





[h2]2. Current Development Situation[/h2]

[h3]4 Major Regions for the Early Access[/h3]
The early access that will begin this March has 4 major regions of the Secret Forest. These include Jungle, Moon Forest, Desert and part of the main field region.
Currently we’re fine tuning the details for these areas. Other than a few side quests and visual details, the development is complete on all 4 of the major regions.











[h3]Housing System[/h3]
The ‘Hero’s House’ located in the ‘Village of the Sun’ now is being renovated for it to be able to be customized.

You may place various housing collectables that are found throughout the adventure. There will be a variety of objects like cooking bonfires, hot springs, pots where you can grow plants and so on. These will let you customize your house to your liking and help your adventure even further.







These are the current updates. We are near the first milestone and are very focused for a better player experience. Thank you in advance for being patient with us. Hope you all have a wonderful day!