Burger Bois News

[p]Hello flavor artisans,
[/p][p]Whether beautiful or monstrous, the most memorable burgers share one thing in common: unusual ingredients. To celebrate the Global Foodie Faire Steam Event (starting today!), we’re unveiling a new feature: how you’ll GET those glorious ingredients![/p][p][/p][h3]Groce-2-Go comes-2-u[/h3][p]During your in-game day, you’ll be able to dial up your local grocery vendor, Groce-2-Go.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]What that grocery cart carries depends on which location you’re at. Each parking spot has its own theme, from burger basics at The Truck Stop, to comfort foods at The Make-Out Point Drive-in Movie Theatre and artisanal goods at The Farmer’s Market… with 100+ ingredients in the final game, you’ll be spoiled for choice. [/p][p][/p][p]Not every ingredient is available every day though! Some ingredients are rarer than others, so you’ll need to check back over time and stock up while you can if you want to collect them all.[/p][p][/p][p]Plus, every visit comes with a free sample - this business-kid understands the value of customer retention!
[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Meet the local Grocery Tycoon[/h3][p]A 12-year old child who runs a bike powered grocery cart called Groce-2-Go (and has the thighs to prove it). She has a cut-throat chokehold on the mobile grocery cart sector. I’m not saying she’d do anything to succeed, but it does make you wonder what happened to her competitors… [/p][p][/p][p]A fiercely competitive business owner, she’s successfully driven off every other grocery supplier in the area. With the business acumen of Cardamon (Bee & Puppycat), and the enthusiasm of Louise (Bob’s Burgers), she’s who I want to be when I grow up.
[/p][p][/p][p]Imagine being this sure of yourself all the time. What a life that must be.[/p][p][/p][h3]Say her name[/h3][p]We will! …when we’ve decided for sure what it is. We’ve bandied around the names Trixie, Felicia, Squirt, Pebbles, and Bubbles - but Pebbles is looking like a top contender. What do you reckon? Tag us on Bluesky (@mischiefmakers.studio) with your name suggestions!
[/p][p](I have a feeling it might just end up being Pebbles. Like how the placeholder ‘Burger Bois’ became the final game name!)
[/p][p]Until our next delivery,[/p][p]Jess, Alex, Jackal & Anthony[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p]Kia ora hungry hungry gamers,[/p][p][/p][p]What do burgers and ice cream have in common? That’s right: it’s Frosty Games Fest! Specifically, Frosty Mini, which kicked off today, with Burger Bois featured in the Steam event.[/p][p][/p][p]To celebrate, we’re bringing you a bunch of exclusive never-before-seen concept work of our beloved Burger Truck.[/p][p]
[/p][h2]Introducing ol’ reliable[/h2][p]When you win a prize, you generally tend to assume you’re getting something shiny, new, and exciting.[/p][p][/p][p]The truck Patty wins is only one of these three things. Though worn around the edges, this faithful burger-steed will be the secret ingredient to Patty & Fry’s attempt to take the world by storm. She may lack pizazz, but she makes up for it by oozing charm (and perhaps some kind of vehicle fluid).[/p][p][/p][p]They say “you get what you pay for”, which in Patty’s case, was nothing.[/p][p]
[/p][h3]Designing the Truck[/h3][p]There were so many different directions we discussed for the truck design.[/p]

• [p]Burger shaped? No - too OTT after just designing Patty & Fry to look like their namesakes.[/p]
• [p]Caravan-conversion? Naw - that’s what Patty would have done if she’d started it herself, but this is acquired from someone else.[/p]
• [p]Kids-toy inspired? YES. \[Cue heavy breathing from Sylvanian Families/Calico Critters-obsessed art director Jess][/p]

[p]Believe it or not, this was the first time our artist Jackal had ever designed a vehicle! Fortunately, they found exactly the advice they needed in the Etherington Brothers’ How to Think When You Draw books. (Highly recommend checking them out!)[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Our initial sketches focused on exploring different cabin and body shapes to see what felt right, as well as exploring motifs like the dorsal fin, awnings, menu signs, and the crooked exhaust pipe.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]There were features we loved from each of these! The honky tonk cabin at the bottom left was an immediate favourite, but it felt a touch detached from the rest of the body. From here Jackal explored making the body more asymmetrical, integrating it with the cabin, and exploring what kind of decorations it might have.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The burger sign and the rectangular tail flag were clear winners for us, so we combined them and began exploring colour. The initial green (top left below) caught our eye, but didn’t feel right with the Burger Bois logo, so we explored a number of options inspired by both classic VW Beetle colours, and fast food tropes.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Sometimes in art, you’ve gotta explore your options to see what you’re missing, and in the end, the answer was green all along! It turned out all it needed was bumping up the saturation, and giving contrast to the interior (bottom right).[/p][p][/p][h3]On the road[/h3][p]Sucker that she is for cute tiny models, Jess realised we now had an opportunity on our hands. What if we could 3D print the truck and give it away as a lil gift for people at events!? (...and also keep one spare for her desk.)
[/p][p]After recruiting Connor from Toroa: Skycall (also part of Frosty Mini!) to model the truck for us, and Jess’ husband to do the printing, we ended up with this:
[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]Turns out Jess isn’t the only one excited about silly lil minis. People like Ryan (left) were delighted by their new acquisitions - and we recently received photos from Vee (right) of her post-apocalyptic makeover version! 🤩It’s SO cool to see these trucks out in the wild.
[/p][p][/p][h3]‘Till our next visit[/h3][p]Would you want a mini Burger Bois truck? We’re thinking about doing a bulk order sometime, ‘cuz we’d love to see more of what people do with them! If you received one of our trucks last year, send us a photo - whether it’s in its original form, or had a makeover. We’d love to see them. 🙏
[/p][p]Until next time,[/p][p]Jess, Alex, Jackal & Anthony[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][p]
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[p]Hello burger connoisseurs,
[/p][p]Whilst any meal can stand on its own, this burger truck is at its best with a side of Fry. Continuing our behind the scenes series, let’s take a look at your partner in food-crimes!
[/p][h3]As a fry cook, Fry cooks[/h3][p]When Patty accidentally, uh, ‘acquired’ the business, it came with a few things: a worn but trusty truck, a much maligned reputation, and a resident cook named Fry.[/p][p]Fry’s been with this food truck for a while, but its failings were despite his best efforts - not because of them. You can be an excellent cook and still dish up disasters if your boss is as bad at flavor design as the last guy was. [/p][p]Fry has a feeling that things will be different with Patty in charge, though! Despite meeting five minutes ago, it feels like they’ve been in sync for years.[/p][p]
[/p][p][/p][p]This man is here to chill with the grill.
[/p][h3]Designing Fry[/h3][p]What Patty lacks in chill, Fry more than makes up for. Astoundingly aloof, Fry is unflinching over a vat of boiling oil or a piping hot grill. Is that just his natural demeanor, or a questionable pattern of self-medication? Who’s to say?[/p][p]Fry is a love letter to some of our favourite definitely-not-stoner characters of children's cartoons, such as Shaggy from Scooby Doo, Trent from Daria, Greg from the Steven Universe, and lowkey Crush from Finding Nemo. [/p][p]Like some of these characters, Fry is more than just a chill bro, although he’s definitely also that. He’s quietly the brains of the operation - helping Patty work through difficult situations with an impressively level head, and managing the many moving parts of the Burger Bois kitchen with nary a complaint.
[/p][p]As we mentioned in the last update (read it here!), visually we wanted Patty & Fry to represent their namesakes. But fried potato comes in lots of shapes and sizes - crinkle cut, wedges, shoestring, steak cut… which meant that our early Fry concepts explored a bunch of different body shapes!
[/p][p][/p][p]A broad exploration like this tends to reveal things you hadn’t known yourself about the character! We quickly realised that he needed to be tall, to contrast Patty. That he had a bit of a lazy grin, like the second concept. That he was definitely a slouchy, comfy dresser like the third concept… but he was absolutely NOT a bishounen like that. And of all the concepts, we loved how the crinkle cut fries haircut immediately connected with the fries he’s named for. The next step was to refine these ideas into the same guy.
[/p][p][/p][p]We explored a few different outfits for him, but the jeans & hoodie version stood out to us as what this laidback guy would be happiest wearing whilst working. The checkered flannel and round sunnies were a close contender, but it felt more like his idea of dressing up for a special occasion to us.[/p][p][/p][p]
One of our visual design inspirations was Mr Fryman from Steven Universe. We adored how silly his shoestring fries hair was, and part of our brief to artist Jackal was to explore our own version of it, which we think they’ve nailed! [/p][p]We did end up crinkling the cut of the hair a bit further during the final stage. As shown by the comparison above, we realised it could be misinterpreted as dreadlocks, which it’s not meant to be!
[/p][p]Which might have you wondering: “what is the deal with his hair? Is it made of fries? Are fries growing from his head? Has he just styled it to look like fries?”[/p][p][/p][p]And you’re welcome to wonder. :)
[/p][h3]Peace out (for now)[/h3][p]We’re really enjoying doing these lil game-dev process explorations! Next time we’ll be back to yap about The Truck - but what else would you like to hear about? Reply in the comments here, or @ us on socials to let us know![/p][p][/p][p]Until next time,
Jess, Alex, Jackal & Anthony[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p]Hello supporters of the great burger agenda!
[/p][p]Remember when you were a kid, and video games used to come with a lil booklet telling you all about the world and the characters? WE WANNA BRING THAT BACK. [/p][p][/p][p]…in digital form, at least. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]She is all of us. [/p][p][/p][h2]P is for Player Character, and also Patty[/h2][p]A fiend for entering no-effort competitions, Patty may have bitten off more than she can chew when she won this failing burger truck. [/p][p][/p][p]She’s not the type to put much thought into the long term, but hey, now that she’s here, she could totally design some burgers and run a business. After all, it’s one failing business, how hard could it be?
[/p][p][/p][p]This is the face of someone who’s never worked in hospitality before.
[/p][h3]Designing Patty[/h3][p]Patty’s character is inspired by a few of our favourite cartoons. Here’s a recipe for designing Patty:[/p]

• [p]1 cup of Bee’s determination to march to her own beat, even to her own detriment. (Bee & Puppycat)[/p]
• [p]½ cup of Steven’s willingness to see the best in everybody and everything. (Steven Universe)[/p]
• [p]¼ cup of Mordecai’s insecurities and immaturity. (The Regular Show)[/p]
• [p]¾ cup of Linda’s unflinching enthusiasm. (Bob’s Burgers)[/p]
• [p]3 heaped tablespoons of Dipper’s creative problem solving… and habit of making things worse for himself. (Gravity Falls)[/p]
• [p]1 teaspoon of Spongebob’s reckless optimism. (Spongebob Squarepants)[/p]

[p]Throw them all in a grinder until the meat is nice and minced, then shape it into a Patty. Enjoy that mental image! :)[/p][p]
[/p][p]Patty is a character of indeterminate age, and only slightly more determinate gender. She’s happy to use whatever pronouns people call her. She has more important things to think about, like if she could deep-fry a taco (yes) and if it’s safe to do so in the food truck while Fry isn’t around (no).[/p][p][/p][p]While Patty doesn’t exactly love to work, she’d rather drive this truck into the ocean and take Fry and a week’s supply of burger ingredients with her than be perceived as lazy. Below her own insecurities though, what she really wants is to put her feet up, enjoy some munchies and imagine she is free from the pressing weight of capitalism. [/p][p][/p][p]Visually, we knew we wanted Patty and Fry to feel like their namesakes, so a lot of our discussion revolved around “this, but people”:[/p][p][/p][p]Courtesy of BanjoZebra on Wikimedia Commons.[/p][p][/p][p]Our artist Jackal took the idea and ran with it through her textured hair and layered burger coloured clothing! Fun fact: we were exploring how we wanted to do the player character’s gender at the same time as exploring her design, so these concept sketches are varying degrees of masc to femme.  [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We landed in butch-femme territory in the end, and it just feels right somehow. 😌💅[/p][p][/p][p]When we moved into colour design, we made an unexpected discovery…[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Entirely unintentional, but it tickled us. 😂[/p][p][/p][h2]A relatably weird little world[/h2][p]We hope you’ve enjoyed this lil peek behind the curtain. We’d love to do another one of these sometime for Fry, or even the Truck (vehicle design is fun!), so watch this space. 👀
[/p][p]Until next time,[/p][p]Jess, Alex, Jackal & Anthony[/p][p]
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[p]Hello flavor-mongers! [/p][p][/p][p]If you had the pleasure of tuning in to Frosty Games Fest this morning, you may have noticed a cheeky few ingredients we’ve never shown before. 👀 (And if you missed it, you can catch the showcase here!) [/p][p][/p][h3]Cooking beyond the classics[/h3][p]Burger Bois would hardly be a game of flavor experimentation if all you had to play with were bacon cheeseburger ingredients. We love bacon and cheese - but burgers can be so much more! Introducing:
[/p][p]Live your sweet and spicy breakfast burger dreams with Waffle Buns, Kimchi, and Sriracha Sauce.[/p][p][/p][p]Make an “oops, all purple” burger with Radicchio and Sliced Radish! (Dibs-not on taste-testing this one…)
[/p][p]Break your customers’ banks with a Dark Chocolate and Shaved Truffles bougie burger.[/p][p][/p][p]With heaps more ingredients to come, all this burger potential is just the start. 😌[/p][p][/p][h3]How we choose ingredients[/h3][p]The only hard rule we have is it has to be a real ingredient (sorry, no Unicorn Steak Sandwiches). We have a couple of thought starters to help us choose:[/p]

• [p]What flavor and property profiles are missing from the game?[/p]
• [p]What ingredient categories do we need more of?[/p]
• [p]What would be weird and wonderful?[/p]
• [p]What would people be excited to see on socials?[/p]
• [p]What might suit the theme of a particular parking spot?[/p]

[p]This time around, we wanted to add bitter, spicy, and unusual ingredients! (We can already hear PAX AUS players rejoicing at having more spicy options. 🌶️)[/p][p][/p][p]We also aaaaalmost ended up with Sauerkraut too, but this time around it lost to our need for protein with a Fish Fillet Patty. [/p][p]
Sorry Finn.[/p][p][/p][h3]What’ve you got a hankering for?[/h3][p]Think back to the most exciting burger you’ve ever had. What made it different? How did it taste? And can you tell us what it was so we can put in our game? 👁️🫦👁️
[/p][p]What other ingredients should we add? Tell us on your platform of choice: Bluesky | Twitter / X | Instagram | TikTok[/p][p][/p][p]We wanna make your ingredient ideas happen! 🙏
[/p][p]Deliciously yours,[/p][p]Jess, Alex, Jackal & Anthony[/p][p]
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