Devs Ricardo Escobar and Jin-Young Sohn of Moon Lagoon first started developing Loddlenaut as a thesis project at NYU, and are in the midst of a successful Kickstarter campaign to help support the game. Speaking with Game Rant, Escobar discussed Loddlenaut’s connections to games like Sonic Adventures 2 and Subnautica, plus the inspirations for the creatures behind the game’s name.
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Loddlenaut Started as a New Version of the Chao Garden
A main focus in Loddlenaut will be its pet-sim gameplay elements. Escobar explains that Loddlenaut took inspiration from the Chao Garden in Sonic Adventure 2, to the point where it jumpstarted the game’s development journey. Many who played Sonic Adventure 2 may remember going to Chao World to raise baby Chao, evolving their characteristics, making them race, and hatching new eggs.
Many of the elements of raising Chao can be seen in how Loddlenaut players can raise and evolve the loddles. However, the inspirations for the game don’t stop with Sonic Adventure 2. As Loddlenaut is set underwater, Moon Lagoon looked to other recent underwater games for inspiration such as ABZU, which recently got a physical Switch version from Super Rare Games, and Subnautica. The vast ocean exploration from ABZU and the survivalist elements from Subnautica helped guide Loddlenaut’s focus.
Loddlenaut’s “Loddle” Pet Creatures Are Inspired by Axolotls
While Loddlenaut took inspiration from different games, its main creature is based on the real-life axolotl. The resemblances are immediately apparent, similar to various video game animals based on real-life counterparts. Originally, Escobar says they planned to have all different kinds of sea creatures that players could raise, but ended up focusing on axolotls.
Whether players will be able to pet these loddles may be unclear, but Moon Lagoon is committed to developing ways for players to form connections with them. Cleaning up GUP-14’s oceans may be fulfilling on its own, but helping raise loddles will be a treat as well. Different diets can also give loddles a variety of appearances or traits, such as the ability to be resistant to pollution. Escobar explained that players will even be able to directly communicate with the adorable lottles in certain ways.
Even though Loddlenaut takes inspiration from all different games and real-life creatures, it should certainly stand on its own. Fans have already helped the Loddlenaut Kickstarter reach two stretch goals, adding seaweed farming and aquatic cooking to the game. As of this writing, Loddlenaut’s next goal involves new evolutionary forms for its loddles, which makes sense considering its Chao Garden inspirations. Chao could also evolve into different forms, notably the Hero and Dark Chao, which opened up the Hero Garden and Dark Garden in Chao World, respectively.
Loddlenauts is in development for PC with an expected 2022 release.
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Source: Kickstarter
