Akupara Games Celebrates 8 Year with Sales and Livestream
Hey Akuparians! Guess what, it’s our birthday!,
Akupara Games is turning 8 years old and to celebrate, we have put Welcome to Elk on sale for 78% off! Be sure to grab those deals, check out our lovely event page, and check out the sales! Maybe the game you’ve been waiting for is waiting for you here, with a crisp sale to match. https://store.steampowered.com/sale/akuparagames8thanniversarysale
Also, to celebrate, we will be hosting a multi-hour stream with tons of activities, announcements, and more! Stream is starting at 11:45 PM PDT! We really hope to see you there - and here’s to another year of publishing your favorite indie games on the market https://www.twitch.tv/akuparagames
- Riv otter
Akupara Games is publishing Welcome to Elk
Hey Elk Tourists,
My name is Joseph and I am the community manager for Akupara Games. Akupara Games is now the new publisher for Welcome to Elk! https://youtu.be/m8IXwozXHXw
Welcome to Elk was loved by the team and we are glad to pick it up and be able to support it. Bringing real life stories to a digital medium is incredible, and we’re really excited to introduce more players to the unique stories that lie within. I hope you enjoy your time in Elk.
- Riv otter
Play the Dead Pets Unleashed Demo!
You might have seen that we announced our next game, Dead Pets Unleashed! You can play the demo on Steam and support on Kickstarter right now!
There's not long left on the Kickstarter, and be so grateful if you can help us reach our goal!
If you've already backed the Kickstarter, we recently added our physical merch options as add ons, be sure to grab a t-shirt, pins, patches, and stickers if you haven't already!
We're also excited to share that we do plan on bringing the game to Linux, as well as PC and Mac - we're not ready to announce any more platforms as this time, but keep an eye out!
We also wanted to share some details on the feminism in our game!
We, Triple Topping, are a feminist game studio, and we always want to tell stories we can relate to. With Dead Pets Unleashed, our goal is to have these stories out in the open, not to have our characters hide away and feel shame. We tell the stories we find important, exactly the way we want to. If we want a dildo in the trailer, then we put a dildo in the trailer!
We have personally never played a game that talked openly about menstruation or female masturbation (but if you have played other games that do, please tell us!!! We want to play them too!!!). We feel that so often, games with female protagonists shy away from showing her as a full and complete human. A character might be dating, but would never mention being on their period on the first date (maybe other people wouldn't either, but you should be able to!!).
We think that games like this are important. It's easy to say that society is equal, but women are losing the rights to healthcare, abortion, and bodily autonomy. Women still do the majority of the domestic labor, they make less money, they are killed by their partners, and they are told to be shameful of their bodies. We think times are changing and hope that Dead Pets Unleashed will resonate with you all because of this.
Whilst on the surface, Dead Pets is a very fun and colorful game, we also wanted to include some heavier storylines in the game as well. We are aiming to show different kinds of feminist topics and issues, from the inclusion of a minigame where you can clean Gordy's sex toy, as women are less often shown to be on the receiving end of pleasure, and even less often included in the conversation about masturbation.
We wrote Gordy, the player character to be energetic, and sometimes rude, to be loud, and take up space. In media, it's often men who get to tell jokes, to be irresponsible and hotheaded.
In a more serious storyline, Gordy is a victim of sexual harassment. The band's first taste of success comes at the cost of Gordy’s mental health and physical well-being, she struggles with what it means to be a victim, and how to move forward. We wanted to tell this story from Gordy's perspective, hoping to become a game to represent victims.
It was not an easy decision to add this storyline to the game. We felt this was an important part of the story to tell. It is both the personal experience of members of our team and an offense that occurs every day, regardless of circumstances.
We are working with a consultant on this to ensure the storyline is handled in a sensitive way, and there will be tools implemented for you as the player to ensure your comfort and safety while playing.
If you have had similar experiences, please know that you are not alone and that this was not your fault.
You can keep up with Triple Topping and Dead Pets Unleashed here:
Struggling punk rock band, Dead Pets, are still looking for their breakthrough after almost 10 years. Gordy has big plans for the group, but when you turn 30, life starts to get in the way.
Dead Pets Unleashed is a feminist, narrative, slice of life, and management-lite game about punk music, friendship and growing up; get ready to unleash your inner demon.
Playing as Gordy, you’ll go to band practice, do what you can to keep the band together, manage Gordy’s irresponsible finances and wellbeing, as well find time to earn enough money to cover rent, bills, and pretty much everything.
From the creators of Welcome to Elk, dive into the demon world of New Void City, and give your childhood dreams one last chance.
Kickstarter Details:
We've just launched our Dead Pets Unleashed Kickstarter, running from today until Sep 17! 🎉
To learn even more about the game, we absolutely suggest checking out the Kickstarter page!
For the first 48 hours of the campaign, we have two rewards at discounted prices, getting €5 off!
Punk Rocker 🤘 Pledge €15 or more in the first 48 hours, or €20 after Gets you a digital copy of the game (PC/Mac)
Big Rocker 🎸 Pledge €35 or more in the first 48 hours, or €40 after Gets you a digital copy of the game (PC/Mac), plus the OST, a copy of our digital punk zine AND early Beta access!
Some other fun rewards we're offering include: physical patches, enamel pins, stickers, a bank t-shirt, an in-game portrait commission, and helping design a mini-game! 🙌✨
Music is incredibly important to Dead Pets Unleashed. You can listen to Dead Pet’s full single featured in the trailer, I Own My Smile. Inspired by female-fronted punk bands like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile, I Own My Smile is Gordy’s ode to catcallers.
I Own My Smile is now on streaming sites, including Spotify.
Gameplay Features:
✨ Killer Soundtrack: A punk rock EP of 5 songs performed during the game.
✨ Minigames for Days: Including working a shift at a diner, playing a gig, cleaning your sex toy, and making hot dogs.
✨ Manage Your Choices: Choices affects Gordy's wellbeing, band's power, her social points, or costs money. Decide how Gordy should live her best life, but manage her stamina carefully.
✨Cartoonish Inspirations: For fans of Bojack Horseman and Tuca and Bertie. Inspired by their surreal worlds, complicated adult friendship, and offbeat humor.
We hope you'll love Dead Pets Unleashed as much as we do!
This update fixes a problem with save files and achievements that were introduced in the last patch.
The last patch introduced a bug where save files were being saved to and read from a wrong location. This meant that users who played before the patch, couldn't load their saves. This has now been fixed, and your saves should be back.
In case you've played the game while between the last patch and this patch, the two saves will be merged together, picking the file from each save, that is the furthest along.
Sorry to everyone who experienced the bug. If you have any problems or need further assistance, feel free to contact us on our Discord server or mail support@tripletopping.com
Hope you have fun!
(Thanks to Jeanette and Bigfoot for reporting the problem)
1.21 Patch
This patch fixes a couple of issues introduced in the latest release.
Fixed:
Problem where some sprites in mini games were invisible.
Missing audio on videos.
Have fun! 😁
(Thanks Cristina!)
Welcome to Elk Comes to Linux!
Dear Elk Tourist 💌
We've just released a patch that brings Welcome to Elk to Linux! Until February 17, Welcome to Elk is 20% off to celebrate. (That's not the only platform it's launching on but we won't talk about that here... 🤫)
Please note: Welcome to Elk is not automatically able to use Proton, so you must enable it manually to play the game. Instructions on how to do that can be found here. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Share a Story with Us
If you haven't already, you can join us for a chat on Discord or keep an eye out for some big news on our Twitter soon 👀
Patch Notes:
Added
Text scaling throughout the whole game. Can be changed from options or the settings menu.
Saving icon that shows while the game is being saved.
Game saves are now synced with Steam Cloud.
Enable Proton support for Linux.
Add support for Apple Silicon
Squishy blue easter egg.
Running and honking easter egg.
Big easter egg that likes to hide near running water.
Changed
Small performance improvements.
Quit-button is now disabled while the game is saving.
Fixed
Problem where controllers wouldn’t work if multiple controllers are connected. Ex. if you have a joystick or steering wheel connected, but want to play with a gamepad.
File progress not updating when deleting save.
Completed saves having a progress off 99% instead of 100% (thanks franplants!)
Bug where players could get stuck on the faces game, when using all stickers on the first balloon.
Bug where golfball wouldn’t fire on some controllers.
Korean fonts being grey in the menu.
Various fixes to translations.
Fix videos not playing through Proton on Linux.
⭐️ One more day to get Welcome to Elk 30% off! ⭐️
On the rocky shores of Elk island, sits a small town that's home to a tight-knit community. A cast of weird and wonderful characters who have a story to tell.
Stories with heartwarming humour, dramatic twists and tragic tales of misfortune - all based on truth.
You'll play as Frigg, a city girl and carpenter's apprentice, who on Elk will meet the local townsfolk and follow their ups and downs while also meeting the people who told these original stories.
Featuring:
🗣️ A hand crafted narrative based on powerful true stories.
❤️ Untold tales that will move you.
💬 Humorous and heartwrenching dialogue.
🎮 Inventive and memorable mini games.
✏️ An illustrative, charming art style.
AND -
😮 IT'S STILL 30% OFF FOR ONE MORE DAY! (The Steam Summer Sale ends tomorrow) 😮
☀️Welcome to Elk is 30% Off for the Steam Summer Sale!☀️
The summer is here and the sun is shining!
(Or winter and snow, if you're in the Southern Hemisphere)
But either way we're celebrating:
Welcome to Elk is 30% off for the Steam Summer sale! ☀️❤️
We're inviting those who haven't yet, to come and visit the island of Elk and play our biographical adventure game - based on real, affecting stories told to us at Triple Topping.
You'll play as Frigg, a city girl and carpenter's apprentice, who on Elk will meet the local townsfolk and follow their ups and downs while also meeting the people who told the original true stories.
Featuring:
🗣️ A hand crafted narrative based on powerful true stories.
❤️ Untold tales that will move you.
💬 Humorous and heartwrenching dialogue.
🎮 Inventive and memorable mini games.
✏️ An illustrative, charming art style.
AND ALSO -
Welcome to Elk is currently nominated for the Nuovo Award at the upcoming Independent Games Awards! 🏆
(And winner of:)
Best Visuals - Spilprisen 2021 🏆
Best Narrative: Gold - Nyx Awards 2021 🏆
Best Indie Game: Silver - Nyx Awards 2021 🏆
Best Storytelling: Silver - Nyx Awards 2021 🏆
Best Game Direction: Silver - Nyx Awards 2021 🏆
Mixtvision: Story Award Winner - Indie Arena Booth 2019 🏆
Most Creative Game - Play Festival 2019 🏆
So it's the perfect time to get on a ferry to the atlantic ocean, to visit a little island Elk and meet characters and hear stories that you're never going to forget. 🙂
