Hello, everyone!
I'm Blue, a planner at UniqueGood Company.
Did you all have a good holiday~?
Thanks to the long break, February seems to be passing by so quickly.
As we're racing toward the end of winter,
we at Realworld
have created a game that perfectly fits the season :)
And that is...
Goodbye, Snowball!! Ta-da!!!
(The poster is so pretty ㅠㅠㅠㅠ)
So today...!
To all of you who have played
or
will play this game,
I'd like to share some stories
about <Goodbye, Snowball> with heartfelt gratitude.
(I'll probably share very personal and TMI-filled stories)
I hope you enjoy reading them hehe^^
So let's begin~!!!
IU - Celebrity
Her voice that I encountered while planning the game...♥
While I was diligently planning <Goodbye, Snowball>,
my desk partner
shouted at an incredible decibel level
to the OK Google in the corner of our office!
"OK Gooooooogle!!!!!!!!!
Play IU - Celebrity pleeeease!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Unable to resist her thunderous plea, OK Google
kindly played the song with a friendly voice.
But you know what?
Even though it was my first time hearing the song, it was so catchy.
Humming along♬ Nodding my head♬
That's right.
IU had made a comeback...!
(It's no secret that we have many IU fans at our company)
Anyway, I was working hard on the game while jamming to the rhythm,
and wow...
The more I listened to the song, the better it got, you know?
So I paused my work for a moment,
searched about IU's new song Celebrity,
and looked at the lyrics..
And wow...
The lyrics were so good too, you know?
Don't forget, during this long winter
A flower that will bloom through the frozen cracks
Can you see how beautiful
Spring will be the day after tomorrow
You are my celebrity
From IU - Celebrity
Ah, how can the lyrics be so beautiful..
The lyrics seem to perfectly resemble the singer.
Listening to her voice telling us that we're 'not weird, but special'
gave me so much strength in planning the game.
I felt like this is exactly what it means to comfort someone!
Especially,
it felt even more touching because it seemed like the words the two protagonists of <Goodbye, Snowball> would say to each other.
Sample, who exists only to replace someone else, without any sense of agency.
Sale, who keeps getting undervalued because they don't receive attention or interest.
Just like how these little ones who lived in the dusty corner of a toy store
come out to the outside world, see and experience many things,
and recognize each other's sparkle.
Of course, the process wasn't smooth,
but thanks to all of you, they were able to make it :)
It's okay to wander, I hope you'll smile
The one and only, you are my celebrity
From IU - Celebrity
The Amusement Park Story in the Game
For a realistic amusement park, Realland
With COVID-19 dragging on, it's unfortunate that we've had to give up many leisure activities.
So I wanted to give even a little bit of that vivid feeling of going to an amusement park.
I begged our designer to make the rides into GIFs,
and was frantically searching for lively background music that would fit an amusement park.
(Thank you to our designer who created the beautiful ride GIFs and our developer who implemented the background music feature♥)
It may not be as realistic as Ev*rlan*, Lott* Worl*,
but I worked hard to create it hoping it would give you all at least some feeling of having gone out to play(?)
I sincerely hope you had a fun time...
(It's still lacking a lot, but I'll work harder!!)
And actually..
I wanted to go to an amusement park more than anyone else ㅠㅠ...
Hidden Movie Homage in the Game
The Movie <The Shape of Water>
Everyone, do you happen to remember what Sample's real name was?
It was Eliza, right.
Actually, Eliza wasn't just a randomly chosen name+_+
I took it from the name of the female protagonist in my favorite movie <The Shape of Water>.
Eliza in the movie, who faces many barriers due to her speech disability,
and the ballerina in the game, trapped in a snow globe unable to communicate with the world,
seemed to resemble each other so much.
The 'embrace scene between the toy soldier and ballerina' at the game's ending
was also a humble homage to this movie's ending scene.
(Director Guillermo del Toro, I truly respect you,,★)
In other movies or dramas, 'jumping into water' is usually expressed as 'death',
but in this movie it felt like freedom, liberation, which was refreshing and good.
So I also
put in my wish for the ballerina to dance freely in the vast lake.
Eliza, are you doing well there?
Wrapping Up
A soup-loving planner who always struggles with endings ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Well, this concludes the behind-the-scenes story of <Goodbye, Snowball>.
Actually, I had so much I wanted to say,
but whenever I grab the keyboard, my mind goes blank. Explain the reason in 30 characters or less. (10 points)
I'll try to write a few words with the help of a cool beer.
I was very worried since it's been a while since we did an emotional theme,
but thanks to many colleagues who helped, I think we were able to finish it well.
Also, I'm grateful to my emotional cells that survived in this harsh world..★
And most of all,
to everyone who played Realworld games, thank you so much♡
I promoted this game by comparing it to soup,
and I wasn't just playing with words - I sincerely hoped it would feel warm.
(Because I'm serious about soup♥)
I also hoped it would be fun. Hearty and steamy fun!
If there's anyone who hasn't played the game yet,
I'll quietly leave 3 soup-like emotional games here~!
It's a 3-piece set, so you absolutely must play all 3!!!>_<
(Roughly meaning please play them,,,)
1. An amusement park adventure with adorable toys
<Goodbye, Snowball>
2. The journey to meet a beloved pet
<Over the Rainbow>
3. A mysterious encounter on a midnight train
<Midnight Train>
I'll continue to make soup-like games that bring warmth to your cold hearts!
Because I'm a soup-loving planner.
Thank you for reading this long post.
See you next time :-)
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