Ooblets developer update reveals four new characters and a 'level unlock tree'

The Ooblets devblog for March showcases some big additions and changes in the upcoming farming/RPG/Pokemon crossover, including four new characters, a closer look at the "grumboire" journal that tracks your progress and accomplishments in the game, improved flags and new Discord emojis, and a "player level unlock tree" that enables "personal development" alongside all the building, collecting, and growing. 

"We decided to create a player level system where you meet different requirements to level up and then use your level points to unlock bonuses like faster crafting speed or more followbaby spots," the update says. "We’ll probably make either the levels or the bonuses take the form of badges since we’ve not really implemented many badges in the game and need to live up to Badgetown’s name." 

Scavenging and weeding have been "totally revamped," and players can now discover "wild harvestables" that will randomly grow in certain areas. The in-game sales system is also undergoing some changes, and flags will apparently now flutter properly in the breeze—"a big step forward in Ooblets flag technology [that's] bound to revolutionize Badgetown."

Ooblets doesn't have a release date yet, but the current hope is to have it out sometime in 2018—"and not like, right at the start of 2018," as the FAQ states. I wouldn't be surprised to see that change, however: During a February interview with creator Rebecca Cordingley and her cohort Ben Wasser, Wasser suggested that target might be a little too tight.

"We actually have had to scale back a lot of our plans for farm automation, so it might not be as much of a balancing act anyway," he said about a planned system for farm automation. "At one point I had imagined a sort of sprawling Factorio-inspired farm automation progression, but as our release window swiftly approaches things like that have been pushed further and further towards the chopping block."

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

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