Knoblins (for Playdate)
A downloadable game
Knoblins: Hatch Musical Creatures
Knoblins is a delightful little toy that lets you hatch musical creatures and perform songs for an ever-growing audience. Knoblins is designed to be very approachable and easy for anyone to pickup and play, whether you are musically inclined or not!
Hit THE STAGE with all your Knoblins so they can jam together. Each Knoblin brings something different to the table and you can swap them in and out to evolve your song over time. Your Knoblins know they have to wait to switch out until the end of the beat to keep the transitions sounding smooth as can be.
Main Stage Controls
| Move Spotlight | Left / Right |
| Change Knoblin | Hold A + Up / Down |
| Change Knob | Hold B + Up / Down |
| Adjust Knob | CRANK or Up / Down |
Additional Stage Controls
| Reset Knoblin | Hold A and B |
| Quick-set Knob | Hold Up / Down |
| Exit Autoplay | Hold B |
Head over to THE LAB to incubate Knoblin eggs and hatch new musical creatures. Crank the heat to hatch your eggs faster and turn on the light to see your progress.
THE COLLECTION houses all 16 Knoblins as you expand your sound and grow your audience.
Lab Controls
| Adjust Temp | CRANK |
| Toggle Light | Left / Right |
| Hatch Egg | A |
| Scroll Collection | CRANK or Up / Down |
Sit back and enjoy fresh music all day with AUTOPLAY.
From the title screen, press Up / Down or CRANK to enable AUTOPLAY mode. Enter THE STAGE and watch your Knoblins swap themselves in and out to the beat (and even adjust their own knobs to keep things interesting). At anytime, you can Hold B to stop the automation and take immediate control to continue the jam.
Please note that your Playdate will not enter sleep mode during Autoplay (so keep an eye on your battery!)
Each Knoblin has 5 knobs that let you tinker and tweak their sounds in real time while performing on THE STAGE. The knobs are easy enough for anyone to use and add a bit of depth for those in the know. Each knob has a grey OVERCRANK area where things can get weird - just keep cranking to find out how!
Here is a breakdown of the different knobs:
- BOOM
- This is your "Volume" knob. Overcrank it into the grey area to apply an "Overdrive" effect which really takes your Knoblin to the next level
- FREAK
- This "Ring Modulator" will change the sound of the Knoblin in strange ways. Overcrank to apply an "LFO" and hear some wild wobbles
- CRUNCH
- This "Bit Crusher" will make your Knoblin sound extra crispy. Overcrank to apply an "LFO" that can breathe to the beat
- PASS
- This is your "Band Pass Filter" which can filter out certain frequencies and smooth out certain sounds. Overcrank to apply a "High Pass Filter" or even Undercrank to apply a "Low Pass Filter"
- SHIFT
- (headphones or stereo speakers only!)
- This is your "Pan" knob. It will only show up in the menu when you have headphones or speakers plugged in. Overcrank and Undercrank to apply an "LFO" which will wiggle your Knoblin sounds left and right
Knoblins tries its best to protect your ears by automatically muting when you plug in headphones or unlock the device, but always be safe and turn down the Playdate system volume in the pause menu before plugging in speakers and headphones. Additionally, some effects can cause certain sounds to get VERY LOUD so be aware and keep that volume low until you get familiar with each knob and Knoblin. Stay safe and protect your ears!
Knoblins is brought to you by DUDSOFT
- art and design travm
- development and design professir games
Additionally
- Knoblin music and mastering R$ Ent
- additional sfx by SubspaceAudio
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $5 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Development log
- Knoblins v1.0.1 ReleasedMay 18, 2024
- Knoblins released!Jan 24, 2024
Comments
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thanks for posting R$ :D
I like the game's main concept, which is mixing the sounds of various monsters on the stage to try to make cool and interesting beats with them. The unique looks and sounds of each monster piqued my interest and that was why I ended up buying the game. This is where the game shines and holds all, if not most, of its value.
The other part of this game that I'm more conflicted about is the hatching mechanic at the lab. I understand this is here to prolong the gameplay and to make receiving new monsters more exciting, but it doesn't feel rewarding. The amount of time you end up waiting is long enough to make me put the game away and short enough to make receiving the new monster feel not that exciting.
Something I think could have worked better for introducing new monsters would have a random set of monsters appear each day on a separate stage, these could be new ones or ones you already have in your collection. Once you have seen them at least once and have them in your collection, you could then use them like you currently do on the stage. This I think would add more excitement to open the game each day to see what new monsters you might find, and the randomized set could be used as a challenge/constraint for the player each day.
Regardless, I still really like the game and can't wait to see what else you make!
thanks for your feedback!
Yea we thought a lot about how best to unlock the creatures. At one point we had a little rhythm game and even a breeding program over there but ultimately we landed on this idle sort of game where you can speed up incubation by participating in it.
We also wanted to balance a few key points that we saw. First and foremost, we wanted to introduce the Knoblins slowly so the game could function as its own tutorial. However we also wanted to ensure that the player would have a full set of Knoblins within the first ten minutes of opening the game. Towards the end of the unlock path, we wanted a long enough time frame that it would take the average player a couple days to unlock all the creatures, however we still wanted the unlocks to be completable within a day for highly engaged players. Finally, it was important to me that the creatures are introduced in a certain order to ensure the first beats you’re making sound especially good. Ultimately, I am pretty happy where this all ended up in terms of idle based gameplay.
I do like your idea of a daily sort of stage playing its own song - I am a big fan of daily content for games. Appreciate your comment and ideas!
This is plainly stupid! what is the concept? How do I play it? Why do I love it? it turned my room into a techno temple or cyber church? I hooked it up to speakers and boom! Just curious, will there be aditional content in the future?
LOL thank you Eddie
First, I should say that we have no plans in the foreseeable future for any additional content. Other projects are currently requiring my time.
However, there are a few (potentially radical) ideas on how to expand Knoblins that I’d personally like to explore when time permits. Not sure if any of these will bear fruit, but it is something I’m kicking around :D
I'd buy an expansion!
HOLY SHYT...That YouTube video is a BOPPPPP...
tbh, doing the podcast, it is hard to keep up with all the great Playdate games coming out now - both in time and financially - but once I watched the video I had to give it a go!!!! Sideloading now. Keep up the amazing work!
thank you so much! And thank you for bringing all of us the podcast :D Hope you enjoy crankin those Knoblins
Great game. You should submit it to the catalog
thank you :D we’d love to release on catalog with that Bluetooth speaker!