It's been one year since MatchyGotchy launched on Steam!
Thank you for downloading and playing MatchyGotchy, it means the world to us. What originally became a simple idea to introduce the Matchyverse, it is now a world of its own - and weeks away from important MatchyGotchy Z updates, we can say there is much more coming for Matchy Star and friends.
We are currently working non-stop on MatchyGotchy Z and Matchy Star, and as are preparing for publishing, we are excited to share some launch dates very soon! However, we decided to do a Birthday update to MatchyGotchy to celebrate it's one year anniversary. From today Feb 1st, until next week Feb 8th, you will be able to enjoy birthday celebrations - including birthday cake to go along with your selfie! And from here on, you will be able to celebrate your Star's birthday whenever their birthday comes along.
Again, thank you for all the patience and support you have given us so far. We continue to grow the Matchyverse and would love to take you along with us! Join our Discord so you can chat with us real time, there will be Matchy updates, gaming talk, cheese, derp and fun :)
-Say ʕ•ᴥ•ʔﾉ♡
MerryGotchy Christmas
We come bearing good tidings of cheer and mirth.
To get into the holiday spirit, MatchyGotchy is celebrating Christmas. There is a Christmas selfie screen, holiday food and snacks as well as a little bit of snow because this holiday update is super cool. Check it out now before all the presents are opened and the season is past!
MatchyGotchy happened as a result of Matchy Star. While working with Matchy Star, we wanted to give these cute characters a life of their own. This is where the idea of interacting with them as virtual pets came into the Matchyverse.
Matchy Star is the original character, and he explores the Alpha System where he meets all the other stars on the way. Originally called gems, as part of a match 3 design, eventually they all became characters instead and we call them Stars now thanks to MatchyGotchy.
The stars were given a purpose in space, they want to grow to become rocket surgeons. It comes from that quirky mix of ‘rocket science’ and ‘brain surgery’, commonly used as a light hearted and fun take joke to suggest high intelligence or higher qualifications. Each of their own have their specific jobs though, and also their own personalities.
Just like any virtual pet experience, they have their own growth and different phases of it.
Smol Egg We decided to make the Stars hatch as a fond reference to tamagotchies from back then. There is no care to the egg, as we initially intended to make MatchyGotchy a short and intuitive experience to introduce the characters. In MatchyGotchy, it’s just a transitional phase that requires no care taking – we are revisiting this concept for MatchyGotchy Z!
Tiny Baby. Stars are born without any outfit, or any skills. They are smart cookies though, so they are drawn to build ships in order to become a rocket surgeon – they slowly pick up on productivity as they grow up. At first, it’s a learning curve, just about the same it is for the player learning how to take care of their stars.
Awkward Teenager. The are halfway into full productivity and job purpose. Once they level up, they don’t only grow in size but also acquire part of their main outfit. It knd of looks a tad off, which is the reason why it fits so well the idea of being a teenager in those awkward years while growing up. At this stage they require a bit less of undivided attention but they get distracted and sick much easier.
Rocket Surgeon. They finally reach their normal size, full clothing, and a range of productivity which they do not while babies. As they continue to work, they peak in speed at their job – they get better and now you can use your stars to build up ships to get to Xanadu. They become a bit more independent and work their very best.
Just like any tamagotchi-like experience, they need food and care to grow. They can also get sick, they sleep – and in MatchyGotchy, they can also die with bad care. We originally designed six actions, food and snacks, a traditional left/right game, cleaning, health and selfies. Cycling through these as needed will allow your Star to be fully productive and grow as they should to become Rocket Surgeons. Including selfies, they are part of the entertainment factor Stars need.
There are a total of seven Stars, and each star has a particular task as a rocket surgeon. Let’s meet the Rocket Surgeons:
MATCHY STAR AS AN ALL-DIMENSIONAL MASTER SHIPWRIGHT Matchy Star is an engineer extraordinaire. Ready to use mathematics and a trusty graphing calculator to explore the cosmos, Matchy is happy, upbeat, and full of unbridled contagious enthusiasm. Matchy’s positive nature inspires other stars to achieve nerdy heights.
SPACEY GALAXY AS DAUNTLESS ELEGANT DIPLOMAT Spacey Galaxy once managed to negotiate a truce in the Klatu Nebula by strategically sneezing at exactly the right moment. Never shying away from the personal touch, Spacey once took a galactic ruler’s space dog to the groomers all in the name of peace.
SPEEDY SPUTNIK AS INTERSTELLAR SHIPMENT MANAGER Speedy Sputnik knows the routes though space to get anywhere fast. Speedy managed to change the speed of light for a few hours just to make sure a delivery got to its destination on time. Always out for a promotion, this Sputnik dreams of doing deliveries for Matchy Mart.
DOCTOR UFO SPACE PHYSICIAN MD Doctor UFO attended space medical school at the prestigious Space University of Medicine and Shoe Cobbling. Don’t let the good doctor’s derpy demeanor fool you, this UFO is capable of diagnosing a multitude of diseases by sense of smell alone!
PIRATE PLANET AS A MIGHTY BOOTY HUNTER Pirate Planet is so grumpy that just scowling can intimidate enemies into surrendering their valuables without the need to say a word. Pirate Planet is a noble pirate, only stealing things the rapscallion really wants but doesn’t have and can’t afford.
LOONY LANDER AS QUAINT ALIEN BOTANIST Loony Lander realized an internal talent for botany by managing to plant a spare microchip which grew into a tree that had tiny little computers on it. The computers were too small to use but they taste great!
GURU MOON AS ASTROLOGICAL FORECAST SPECIALIST Always one for supernatural coincidences and fortune telling shenanigans, Guru Moon became a Guru by successfully predicting how long the halftime show at the Space Bowl would be every year 5 years in a row down to the second.
Have you played MatchyGotchy yet? You should! It’s fun, it’s cute and it’s also entirely free. If you enjoyed the game, you can support us by leaving a positive review :)
It’s been a few months since September big update, I figured it was about time we revisited those big changes.
We launched MatchyGotchy back in January, and ever since we’ve worked on different updates. We have shared seasonal updates like Halloween, and Valentine’s Day, but these changes are often up for two weeks or so and then they’re gone until next year. However, back in September we did a set of big changes which were fully permanent to the game.
From the ‘Big MatchyGotchy Update’ we revisited a lot of user feedback and decided to tweak things around. Some were technical, and most were entirely aesthetic changes. Let’s talk about the most important revisions first.
We included notifications.
These pop up bubbles show up to help you understand your Star better. At first it’s supposed to guide you through as a tutorial, actions light up yellow to make it easy to follow. Eventually the popups will appear less frequently only to guide you in the right direction if needed.
Party at Xanadu.
Some people thought the congratulation screen wasn’t enough of a reward at the end of the game, so we decided to include a whole pool party. You can now get a proper score of how well your Stars worked, and also give them a bit of time to relax and have fun after all that hard work. Visiting Xanadu will change the laboratory too, after your visit.
Stars leveling pace changed.
We tweaked how Stars level. Baby phase only takes three ships and tenage phase takes another six ships – this has to do with the whole notification phase. Also, each pet is capable of different productivity skills, meaning some can produce multiple ships at once. As adults the Stars even produce ships of different colors. And last but not least, leveling includes a more visually noticeable animation to let you know your Star is on its way to become a rocket surgeon.
Sleep is a bit easier.
We heard that this one achievement might have felta bit grindy, so we decided to make it less of a chore to get. Sometimes idle pets will fall asleep when you aren’t using them for up to 5 sleeps. This makes the sleep achievement a bit easier.
These are both visually and technically important, however, there were other changes that were just aesthetic – yet, they add more to the game now.
Hands animation.
The main game from the free build now has hands instead of buttons. You get to choose which hand the heart is hidden, making the game interaction somewhat more enjoyable. Also the first choice you make is a freebie, guaranteed to get you a heart.
More roaches.
Cleaning just got more colorful, and messier! There are different roaches now. Including a swatter to get them.
Stars have different sizes while growing up.
It was a minor aesthetic change, but it sure makes baby photos look extra cute now.
In other updates, mostly technical, cloud save is now available. Soft and hard reset exist. Soft reset clears stars but not your score, whereas hard reset clears all your stars and your score. A lot of new things became part of the game, and also were intended to improve the game experience.
Have you played MatchyGotchy yet? You should! It’s fun, it’s cute and it’s also entirely free. If you enjoyed the game, you can support us by leaving a positive review :)
Designing a set of Stars for the Matchyverse required so many iterations I’ve lost track. We needed memorable shapes that stood out and were distinct and they eventually took on personas and characteristics of their own. Here is some more info on how we did it:
We really started from nothing and got a whole universe. At first we were calling these seven just “gems” or “shapes.” It would take months before we realized they were Stars and the Matchyverse was born. Getting the final shapes for the Matchy Star “Stars” took a lot of design work. The first Star, Matchy was pretty straightforward to put together but we needed a set of 7 which meant color and shape differentiation to make it very easy for players to tell which shape was which. For the colors we started with the color palate from Don’t Shoot Yourself which was designed to be bright and vibrant but not to have the colors clash or compete with one another.
The first step was figuring out a set of spacy out of this world shapes that would both fit the theme and also stand out from one another. After Matchy Star, a crescent Moon was a pretty easy choice and I guess the phrase Blue Moon had entered my unconsciousness so I decided to make this Star blue.
The basic moon shape took 2 iterations. The first one was a bit too thin and my mom pointed out that it should be a bit beefier to be a cuter shape so I tweaked it and got the final version.
The next idea I had was for a space satellite which was originally orange. It required a lot of simplifications before it became a red sputnik. I had a sputnik character in Speedway Heroes which was part of why the iconic lil’ spud was in my brain and I knew it was a great iconic space related shape so it made it into the game.
Once it was clear the Sputnik would be red, I made a ringed planet that was Orange. By Rotating it 45 degrees it seemed much bigger despite not taking up more texture space:
The next Star wasn’t so clearly defined so it needed a bunch of iterations. It was supposed to be a galaxy expanding into space. I figured the spokes and points would make it stand out from the rest of the shapes. Getting the number of spokes and their curves took a lot of fidgeting. Some iterations looked like saw blades, others looked like gears.
I knew I had to have a robot and I guess because of the Android logo I assumed it would be green. We had to compact it a little bit to avoid being too similar to the Android android and changed it to being a “Lander” instead.
The last Star was the most complicated. It was meant to be a space ship before I had the concept of using a set of ships to collect matches:
Similarly there was going to be a UFO to sow chaos and cause all kinds of trouble but the Ship and the UFO would switch places with the UFO becoming a gem and the Ship traveling above the grid. Its possible to tell what direction the Ship is moving in by looking at it and players needed that to help predict which direction the characters would be moving in.
Thus we got the final Star, a UFO:
Even after getting the shapes right, we still had more iterations on the combined colors of everything to make sure different Stars stood out, we would even make the images black and white to see what the different intensities of the colors were to make everything stand out as distinct as possible:
Finally Jimp stylized all the Stars and added faces, giving the complete look and completing this epic design task:
Eventually we punched up each Star to have a set of clothing and a profession based on their outfit and even designed personalities for each one that affect how they work in the various Matchy Verse games. It was a long, complex, and difficult process, but the Matchyverse finally has its Stars!
Creating an original character felt like I had to create an entire universe, but really it was just one star.
The literal first thing I did on this project was come up with the name Matchy Star. I knew I wanted to do something Sci-Fi, and I knew I wanted a main character that would stand out and really be able to get people behind him. So, the first character I designed was a star shape based on a number of sources.
The process for how I did it was complicated:
The initial star shape for Matchy was a little off set for its perspective and based on the classic Nintendo star icon shape. I wanted an exuberant face and I always had the old meme emoji “Exuberant Bliss” stuck in my head, so I sort of fused the two together. The Nintendo star is a bit less expressive because its not supposed to outshine Mario, but for the Matchyverse, Matchy needed to really be an expressive exuberant character that would communicate with players the feelings that the series is supposed to evoke. Next, I added a black outline that was again not perfectly aligned to add some character. This style of cartoony outline was inspired by the sort of offset lines in Angry Birds.
For the next iteration I added some hair and a bit of a sense of vanity and ego that comes with having great hair. This could only mean one source of inspiration, Johnny Bravo:
Of course, as the creative director, I had intended Matchy to have shades. Later iterations would change them to goggles and remove the hair which was sort of a compromise with the people on the team – and Jimp, the artist who did the final designs of Matchy. I don’t like being too firm in imposing my creative direction on the team because it sort of becomes more of a creative dictatorship, and I understand that the team has a say in these things too but here is the SHADE version of Matchy:
I did a lot of iterations that involved small tweaks to shapes and shading, but idk where the files went even though I intended to save them. Some of the details were so small even we have a hard time noticing them, sometimes the changes were big and obvious. Designing takes a lot of small tweaks and iterations and sadly a lot of those details will be forever lost. To some extent each change almost felt like aliens were contacting me to help me design the character. Sometimes I’d make a change and have an itch or hear a noise and it would make me think about modifying that change even more. It was sort of surreal to put together the character and I went through 12 iterations that all had differences.
And I suppose no one can escape Simpsons Mania, so I decided to add a nice set of blue pants to complete the look:
Of course it would take even more work to get the final versions of everything, but this is how the whole thing started. We eventually hired Jimp from Massive Monster, and he added his own lick of paint. We defined the style of eyes and lines based on some feedback from our mailing list from a bunch of options Jimp presented. We also discussed the idea of making Matchy a wizard or redefining the character, but I added some more references to the list to cement the direction including Sponge Bob, Andy the Mechanic from Advance wars, and other spacey characters to define the final direction as an enthusiastic derpy goofball scientist and as a result we got even more iterations:
It really took a phenomenal amount of work to design this character even though it might seem sort of obvious now that Matchy already exists. I know that Matchy seems like a very clear cohesive simple character, but it was not at all obvious or clear on how to land at this end result, it took a lot of work!
Hello citizens of the Matchyverse! We are now launching a discord chat to allow players to connect and to help build up the community for Silverware Games.
This server will be primarily used to give players beta access to in development games but it will also be a place share screenshots, post derpy art, celebrate the special uniqueness of what you’ve named your MatchyGotchy pets, and create collaborative spoken word albums. You can join up right here:
This will also be leading in to the MatchyGotchy Z beta test. We haven’t sent out the invites to the beta, but we know some of you have already reached out to Say expressing interest. If you still haven’t, get in touch with her so we can consider you for the special MatchyGotchy Z beta channel in the Discord. Hope to talk to you soon!
-Michael
Silverware Games, Señor Cheezoid
Fix Glitch in "Fan Dance" Level
I've uploaded a new PC version that fixes a glitch in the Fan Dance level. Good luck, have fun!
