News from wabisabi play

Welcome to part three of our Tentacle Zone incubator alumni catch-up series. We’ve been speaking to each studio who took part in 2021’s programme to find out how they’ve been getting on over the last 12 months. In part one we covered Epoch Media and in our most recent post we spoke with Salman Shurie of Gesinimo Games. Today we turn our attention to Wabisabi Play and its founder, Lisa Evans. 

L_Evans

Lisa Evans

Founder, Wabisabi Play
Tentacle Zone Incubator 2021 Cohort

There’s been plenty going on for Wabisabi in the past year. In October the studio released its debut game, Growbot, to great reception from critics and players. The wholesome sci-fi adventure has been praised for its art style which was described as “utterly charming” by Rock, Paper, Shotgun and “wonderful” by PC Gamer. Players noted the delightful environments, compelling story and brilliance of the puzzles. 

Not content with success on Steam and GOG, Wabisabi released a Nintendo Switch version of the game in July of this year. Again, the response was positive with Nintendo Life calling Growbot “joyful” in their review.

The studio has enjoyed excellent progress on the business side too. At the beginning of 2021 the company secured a New Ideas grant from Creative England. This programme of grants was setup to support companies working in moving image industries with storytelling at the heart of their work.

Lisa tells us that the funds were used to develop a new IP. They’ve been experimenting with game systems, mechanics and genres to come up with something entirely new. Intriguingly, the Wabisabi website describes their in-progress project as a “mind management sim”. One to keep an eye on!

It’s been wonderful to hear from Lisa and brilliant to see Wabisabi going from strength-to-strength. We can’t wait to see the studio’s next game. If you feel the same then sign up for the company’s newsletter and be among the first to hear all about it.

That’s all for now. Join us next time for another incubator alumni update and, in the meantime, follow Tentacle Zone on Twitter and LinkedIn