- The Kaiyo Mission - Update May 2026 - 6 May 2026
Based on player feedback, minor bugs have been corrected.
- First update after release v.1.0.01 - 22 February 2025
Minor incremental improvements and bug fixes based on feedback.
- New Year, New Beginnings - 1 January 2025
After what I’ve heard a lot of people describe as a challenging year, here at eXplore Studio we have been reflecting on what progress we have made. It has not been all sunshine and rainbows for us either. We have had our fair share of hurdles, especially as a truly independent indie game studio with very limited funding. However, I am also incredibly proud to be writing that our first game will be released 29th January 2025, and we are now less than a month away from this milestone. This comes with both nerves and excitement, but The Kaiyo Mission game is a piece of art we cannot wait to share with the world. For us this is not simply a commercial product we are aiming to sell, instead it is a passion project we have invested so much into. This includes effort, time, and giving it our all. Looking back at 2024, it has been amazing working with the team of freelancers we do and developin…
- Working using the Agile principles - 27 November 2024
At eXplore Studio, we see the value of taking an agile approach to our work. This working style still includes two structured weekly meetings with the whole team, with a scrum planning meeting on Monday and a technical meeting on Thursday. Nonetheless, throughout the week we are flexible and maintain strong lines of communication. This means we are continuously in touch to share our insights and prioritise our working connections as a team. Equally, the agile approach gives clear advantages when developing working products which we continuously refine. Through this technique, we avoid striving for perfection from the outset and learn that we can evolve as we go. Testing and asking for feedback are also a huge part of this process, as we then do not end up with a “finished” product which needs to be wholly altered. Concentrating on progress over perfection means we can keep work going, i…
- Making The Kaiyo Mission accessible to all - 10 November 2024
Whilst developing video games, accessibility might not be your first thought. After all, some people argue that certain accessibility functions could limit your creative scope. However, here at eXplore Studio we believe that accessibility and inclusivity are key to creating strong video games. Most importantly, ensuring that everyone is able to be included and thought of before constructing a video game is key, rather than including accessibility as an afterthought. This makes it easier to figure out ways of working which are most accessible, as well as the video games themselves. In fact, we have found that accessibility helps everyone benefit from clearer and more effective work. Accessibility can be challenging, giving how many different needs different kinds of people may have. This is particularly hard with video games. For example, adding loud music to the background of a game cou…
- The Kaiyo Mission - The submarine on Enceladus - 14 October 2024
In the first mission phase of The Kaiyo Mission, the player controls a submarine that is exploring the underwater plateau of Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. While the submarine is discovering this new fascinating, extra-terrestrial world, you take pictures of the many elements of interest that are nearby like plants and animals for example. The second mission phase opens once all the pictures are taken! Good luck! 🐙
- The Kaiyo Mission - Portals and travels - 7 October 2024
‘Are you telling me that one of our two ESEL submarines that landed on Enceladus last month, that was deployed, melted through the ice, found life in the subsurface ocean, and suddenly vanished…has been found on Earth last week?’ asked the Head of Deep Space Exploration of JAXA. (extract from The Kaiyo Mission – Enceladus)
- Why is it so important to estimate the workload of your team? - 4 October 2024
Many developers do not bother with estimating their workload, because it takes time and effort, and in most cases, estimates turn out to be incorrect anyway. This is true. All estimates will probably be false. Too many factors have an influence on the time it takes us to do anything really, even depending on multiple human performance influencing factors present on a given day, which will vary from one day to the next. But if estimates are good enough to give us helpful indications for decision making, they are precious. So, estimating our workload when developing a game is crucial for several reasons: First, knowing how much time and effort each task will take, even if not 100% accurate, helps in allocating resources effectively and scheduling realistically. It helps in setting more achievable milestones and deadlines, ensuring that the project stays on track. Second, by understanding…
- The Kaiyo Mission - The habitat on Enceladus - 23 September 2024
An Underwater Inflatable Life Support System (UILSS) has been put on Europa in the vicinity of the portal to Earth and before it is fully operational, two researchers of The Kaiyo Mission are there at work, 1.44 billion kilometres away from Earth. ‘Sheila and Asim went through their checklist of activities in the tent. They had eight essential test activities on their list: (1) Monitoring of breathing air consumption; (2) using the airlock; (3) charging the air supply of two portable life support systems simultaneously; (4) connecting the three surrounding observation pods and receiving data feeds; (5) testing the electricity provision and reduction of carbon dioxide; (6) eating and drinking; (7) going to the toilet (using portable human waste containers with an interface for male and female people respectively); and finally (8) sleeping.’ (extract from The Kaiyo Mission - Europa ) The…
- Small indie game studios vs bigger companies - 19 September 2024
One might think the situation is hopeless, when small indie game studios try to gain visibility and traction in the market, given that they have to compete against seemingly very powerful, big companies with impressive marketing budgets. However, despite the odds, small studios can indeed compete with larger companies by leveraging creativity, community engagement, and strategic marketing. The following strategies may be useful: Using social media like X, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Discord etc., small studios can still reach out to their future players globally and build a strong and loyal community of followers, especially when the content they share is of high quality, e.g. with regular updates, appealing videos such as compelling trailers, interesting behind-the-scenes content, and interactive posts. Furthermore, engaging with influencers and streamers can signific…
- The Kaiyo Mission - The compendium explained - 16 September 2024
Since The Kaiyo Mission belongs to the hard science fiction genre, with animals, plants and artefacts created and named for the game itself, we thought that a compendium would be one of the many cool features to implement. Indeed, the compendium is easily accessible when you play the game and gives you short but very detailed information about the elements of interest discovered and photographed. Moreover, the comments have been written by the explorers of The Kaiyo Mission themselves (for more, check out also The Kaiyo Mission Enceladus and The Kaiyo Mission Europa books – available on Amazon). Finally, if you click on the pictures, you get the option to download these pictures locally and use them as you wish! And let’s not forget that the compendium is available in 14 languages…
- Why is there still much hope even without having a publisher? - 11 September 2024
Small game development studios face several challenges in gaining visibility in the large market of games – why is there still much hope even without having a publisher? The global gaming industry keeps growing at a rapid pace, which is good news for game developers. At the same time, the market is highly competitive, with many games being released every single day. For indie game developers, it is increasingly difficult standing out among well-established studios and popular titles, especially when they have limited budgets for the development and marketing of their games. Also, many small studios lack the marketing expertise needed to effectively promote their games, which likely results in lower visibility and fewer sales. Yet, it is the unique charm and innovative spirit of these smaller studios that often capture the hearts of gamers. Many indie games have risen to great popularity…
- Employees or freelancers? - 6 September 2024
Deciding whether to employ people or work with freelancers in game development depends on various factors, including your project’s needs, the location and country of residence of the people who work with you, your available budget, and the long-term goals of your studio. Employing full-time staff has got certain advantages but also drawbacks. On the positive side, it tends to bring consistency, stability, and longer-term commitment. Team cohesion is likely to be higher having a dedicated team, which can foster better collaboration and a stronger company culture. Regular team members can build stronger relationships and may work more cohesively over time. Also, it may be easier to align team members with the company’s vision and processes. Finally, employees can grow and develop their skills within the company, leading to higher quality work overtime. On the negative side, full-time emp…
- As a game creator, is it worthwhile attending game conventions? - 30 August 2024
Attending game conventions can be highly beneficial for game creators. Here are a few reasons why: Conventions are a great place to meet other game developers, publishers, and industry professionals. Building these connections and ‘networking’ can often lead to collaborations, partnerships, and valuable insights. If you are actually exhibiting your game, you can also showcase your game to a diverse audience and get immediate feedback. This can be invaluable for refining your game and understanding what players enjoy or find challenging. Similarly, conventions offer you marketing and exposure opportunities. They offer a platform to promote your game to a wider audience. This can help build buzz and attract potential players, media coverage, and even investors. Even if you do not exhibit but just attend as a visitor, there is a lot of learning and inspiration on offer. Many conventions fe…
- As a game creator, is it worthwhile attending game conventions? - 23 August 2024
Attending game conventions can be highly beneficial for game creators. Here are a few reasons why: Conventions are a great place to meet other game developers, publishers, and industry professionals. Building these connections and ‘networking’ can often lead to collaborations, partnerships, and valuable insights. If you are actually exhibiting your game, you can also showcase your game to a diverse audience and get immediate feedback. This can be invaluable for refining your game and understanding what players enjoy or find challenging. Similarly, conventions offer you marketing and exposure opportunities. They offer a platform to promote your game to a wider audience. This can help build buzz and attract potential players, media coverage, and even investors. Even if you do not exhibit but just attend as a visitor, there is a lot of learning and inspiration on offer. Many conventions fe…
- Make the game you love - 19 August 2024
Game developers often face a big dilemma: should they create a game they love or develop one that is more likely to sell well? Clearly, in the extremes lies danger: Some game developers make just the game they have always dreamed about and spend many years on it. This is a very long time without income, unless there is some other way of financing the development, for example by means of grants or crowdfunding of some form or another. And without some kind of market orientation and community building, financial success of the final game may be questionable. On the other hand, if a game is being developed that corresponds to the market today, but that does not really fill the developers with enthusiasm and joy, then they may be spending years of development doing something they do not enjoy. Also, the market moves faster than a game is usually developed. So, there are no guarantees at all…
- The Kaiyo Mission - Making the game accessible to ALL - 12 August 2024
The Kaiyo Mission developers wanted to make sure that the game would be as inclusive and accessible to all as possible. That is why, when you hit the ‘Options’ button, you can adjust the sound, sound effects, brightness and more. Indeed, the players can select a colour deficiency mode: protanopia, deuteranopia or tritanopia, and a dyslexia- friendly font is also available. We hope it helps…
- Why is it so important to try and find a diverse group of play testers? - 8 August 2024
In game development, we always have to put ourselves in question and be aware of how players actually approach our game, how they play it. They do not have years of experience working on our game, they do not know it by heart, inside out, like we do. On the other hand, they are quite likely to see things about our game or experience difficulties, where we no longer see them, where we have blind spots. So, whenever we are in the great position to receive honest and constructive feedback from people who take the time to play our game, this is a fantastic opportunity for us to learn about our game and how we have to continue improving it. This is important all along the development of our game, not just in the end before releasing it. Using such opportunities to learn and influence our work, it is also important to make sure that we have a lot of diversity among our play testers. This is s…
- Should we care about using inclusive language for games? - 6 August 2024
There are many games around that have started using inclusive language. Still, sometimes one can find vicious comments on social media or sales platforms from players who do not agree. So, when we are developing a new game, should we use it or is it better for us to avoid collecting hateful comments? Well, it depends on what we want to achieve with the games we make. Do we want to do something meaningful that makes the world a better place and brings much enjoyment and hours or days of fun and excitement to our beautiful players? Or do we want to deny our values and dreams, and out of fear not do what would be the right thing to do? In our opinion, using inclusive language is essential for several reasons: First of all, inclusive language shows respect for all individuals, regardless of their background, identity, or experiences. It acknowledges their humanity and validates their existe…
- Working together - 2 August 2024
The Kaiyo Mission is the story of a courageous mission to find extra-terrestrial life in our own solar system, the experiences of amazing people from all over the world, working together as one, to push the boundaries of human knowledge and understanding, while bringing out the best human qualities we have within us. So, when you play The Kaiyo Mission, you control one explorer at a time, but you will notice other brave members of the mission helping out and ensuring safety, working on the underwater habitat, chatting to you, encouraging and support you, and presenting their findings in the compendium. You can learn more about The Kaiyo Mission by playing the free demo available on Steam or read The Kaiyo Mission-Enceladus and The Kaiyo Mission-Europa…🐙
