Monster Mop Up News

[h3]Greetings, Custodians![/h3][p][/p][p]It's that time of the week again where we send out our weekly Ministry Memos to you hard working employees. You're the best of the best, what would we do without you? I'm sure we could work up some staff bonuses - pizza slices for everyone?[/p][p][/p][p]This week, we spoke to the development team about their inspirations behind Monster Mop Up! What was it that lends its ideas and ingenuity to the game? [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]AZAR Majed Saliou (Programmer):[/p][p]I wasn't involved with that part.[/p][p][/p][p]Code first, creative vision... maybe later. Respect that.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Ehsan Foadian (Backend Operation Engineer):[/p][p]I joined the development team in a very late stage when we decided to add the multiplayer feature. Can't answer this question.[/p][p][/p][p]A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to...[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Skouts (Art Director & concept artist):[/p][p]3D animated movies like monsters inc. Also the design of games like Hello Neighbour![/p][p][/p][p]Leave it to the art director to find the coolest inspirations!
[/p][p][/p][p]Gary "Dave" Philpott (Creative Director):[/p][p]There’s really not many, first and foremost we wanted a more cutesy wholesome version of the cleaning sim games out there, we loved games like Viscera Cleanup Detail, Powerwash Simulator and House Flipper, but felt that a “pixar” touch to the genre would be welcomed.[/p][p][/p][p]For the overall vibe we took a lot of inspiration from Monsters Inc and tried to recreate the feeling and style of the movies.[/p][p][/p][p]Gary really looked at a gruesome, gory game and said, 'But what if it's cute and Pixar though?'[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]And that's our memo for this week, folks. Just under 2 weeks to launch, and we're bouncing off the walls like the Ragamuffins! Time really flies when you're having fun![/p]

[p]The Ministry of Monster Concealment is officially opening applications for new Custodians! Your mops are ready, your hoovers are plugged in, and those little menaces, the Ragamuffins are... still making a mess everywhere.[/p][p][/p][p]Play it solo or bring up to 5 friends along for the chaos, either way you'll be scrubbing your way through all the different locations these fluffy troublemakers have infiltrated. Remember: save the Ragamuffins, clean the evidence, keep the humans oblivious to their existence![/p][p][/p][p]Perfect for when you want to unwind but also want to feel productive (because technically you ARE cleaning... just virtual monster poop).[/p][p][/p][p]August 14th - don't be late on your first official day![/p][p][/p][p]Psst, we also have a new release date announcement trailer for you to check out - [/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]See you on the other side, Custodians, make us proud![/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[h2]Hello Custodians![/h2][p][/p][p]We hope you have been enjoying saving the silly little fluff balls in the latest demo. We at the Ministry are back this week with another Memo, this time sharing a little bit about the challenges that the developers have faced through the development process! [/p][p][/p][p]Each member of the team has shared their own bits, let's see what they had to say.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]AZAR Majed Saliou (Programmer):[/p][p]Maybe my memory is playing games on me, or I wasn't involved with the hard parts. But honestly, MMU was a pretty chill project to work on, in my opinion.[/p][p][/p][p]Either he has supernatural coding powers or he's just really good at making difficult things look easy.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Tania Luna (3D Artist):[/p][p]The biggest challenge was learning tools on the fly. For example, I had never used Substance Designer and I learned how to create procedural textures that we can see all over the game. Especially for walls, floors and ceilings.[/p][p][/p][p]We love a skilled queen. She really said "I don't know this tool" and then proceeded to master it anyway.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Ehsan Foadian (Backend Operation Engineer):[/p][p]About infrastructure and backend operation, I didn't have any big challenges. But we will see after the official launch. ;))[/p][p][/p][p]The calm before the launch storm, brought to you by Ehsan's optimism.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Skouts (Art Director & concept artist):[/p][p]Had some fun ideas for the UI that didn't quite work.[/p][p][/p][p]Sometimes the best ideas are the ones that live in our hearts (and concept folders). We'll try to get you some concepts of the UI for the next Ministry Memo so we can see what we were robbed of.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Gary "Dave" Philpott (Creative Director):[/p][p]The entire lighting system actually, we had originally intended to bake all the lighting but this proved problematic in certain situations and looked too fake considering we wanted players to move everything around. A mix of realtime and baked was considered but then a third party plugin (not naming names) came and crashed the party on that.[/p][p][/p][p]In the end we went with a really well optimised baked global illumination, which in simple terms allowed us to use realtime lights and still get most of the benefits that baked lighting gives us. This actually worked out great and fit the style we were going for much better than fully baked.[/p][p][/p][p]When life gives you lighting problems, you make... better lighting solutions? Gary's got this covered.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We hope you've enjoyed this week's Ministry Memo, we'll be back next week with some more fun insights from the team![/p][p][/p][p]Meanwhile, this will be me for the remainder of the weekend[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Hey there Custodians![/h2][p][/p][p]This week, we at the Ministry have decided to bring all of you loyal employees some sneak peeks behind the scenes of what goes on over here. Whether that's art concepts, inspirations, community art or development processes, you'll here about them here with our regularly scheduled Ministry Memos![/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]For our first Memo we'd like to show you some old character concept art for the game![/h3][p][/p][p][/p][p]Tag urself I'm totally the frog.[/p][p][/p][p]Here's some of the prototyping stage as well - [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Look at how far we've come, it really makes you tear up 🥹[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]We have new levels in the demo as well![/h3][p][/p][p]Today also brings about another demo update as we gear up for launch (release date announcement soon? 👀)[/p][p][/p][p]🗺️ The levels in this demo are:[/p]

• [p]Custodian Exam[/p]
• [p]A narrow situation,[/p]
• [p]Alone in the woods,[/p]
• [p]Two Against the world[/p]

[p][/p][p]As always, reviews and feedback mean the world to us and if you spot any bugs, please let us know![/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]We also recently held a community challenge in our Discord![/h3][p][/p][p]Thank you to member spi133 for these pictures, sometimes things just don't go the way you want eh?[/p][p][/p][p]That bed really does feel like a final boss sometimes[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Much love to everyone for all the support and we hope you enjoy the demo![/p][p][/p][p]P.S., you got games on your phone?[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Hey there Custodians![/h2][p][/p][p]Today we bring to you a fun new challenge for you to try your hands at![/p][p][/p][p]Can you replicate this image in the Monster Mop Up demo? You'll need to clean up, find the objects around the Mansion map and arrange them to get the perfect scene. Once you're happy with your picture, share it in the ⁠#💬game-chat channel in the Discord for a chance to win a game key when the game launches! [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]Deadline: Thursday, 17 July 2025 10:00am BST[/p][p]Full competition Terms & Conditions[/p][p][/p][h2] Take on the challenge solo or mop with friends! [/h2][p][/p][p]Both solo and group entries are allowed! If you're submitting an entry with a group, you'll all receive entries - and what's more, if any of the group wins, you'll all get a key! [/p][p][/p][p]Please note: group entries will only count for everyone if you tag all members of the team in the entry, and send us as a group screenshot of you playing together! [/p][p][/p][h2]🖥️ Watch the Yogscast take on the challenge! [/h2][p][/p][p]Boba and Jennifer are playing Monster Mop Up on the Yogscast channels! How well will they do in this challenge? Watch them play live on Twitch and YouTube right now![/p]