Among The Wild Interview – Premise, Early Access, Gameplay & More

Among The Wild is a game that will probably easily capture your attention with its visuals. This upcoming first-person farming game is set in a world filled with mythical creatures, which looks to be the primary focus from the trailer showcased online. Already, the game has sparked a lot of interest online. 

We still have to wait for Among The Wild to come out on early access. But we got to speak with Tim Badylak from Nuggets Entertainment on their upcoming game. If this game wasn’t already on your radar, you might find it worth wishlisting on Steam today.

Gameranx: For starters, what can you tell me about Nuggets Entertainment? Would Among The Wild be your debut title?

Tim: Technically yes, however the team consists of 10 developers: a mix of veterans, leads, and co-founders of Coffee Stain Studios and Publishing. We’ve worked together on a lot of different games. We’ve all worked together hands-on for years on Satisfactory for example, and some on the team go back to Sanctum and Goat Simulator days.

We’re a smaller team now but we love to be able to sit in one room and build something cool together. We’re independent and make everything ourselves, including trailers.

Gameranx: Could you elaborate on the premise of this game?

Tim: Most of the information we want to share at the moment is on our Steam page.

You play as a Wrangler on a mysterious island with a bunch of fantastical creatures.

What I could add is that from the beginning we wanted to make a first-person game where you wrangle different types of creatures. We love the fact that you can pick them up (if they are not too big), feed them different things and have eye-contact with them at the precise moment something stupid happens that makes you crack up. It’s a weird feeling but this is what we are exploring and building a game around. 

We want to find a good mix between chill and challenge. You can definitely play at your own pace but some creatures can be demanding at times. Also for us it’s important to create a world worth exploring and a true sense of discovery. We’re fascinated by the idea of what if you don’t know anything about a creature you just found and you have to figure stuff out on your own.

Gameranx: What do you credit as the inspirations behind this project?

Tim: Easiest way to explain is that it’s a mix of Stardew Valley, Viva Piñata, and Slime Rancher with a focus on creatures. So it’s parts of those games but not all the parts. The earliest version of the idea came from watching Minecraft videos lol.

Gameranx: I know the current stance is delivering a strong single-player experience. But I’d imagine that players have asked about multiplayer. Since the game was revealed, has there been a new urge to see some kind of multiplayer component added post-launch?

Tim: We totally understand that people see this as a potential multiplayer title and how fun that could be. For us the decision is mostly about what our current focus and ambitions are, and that is to create a strong single-player experience first and build upon that during early access. But hey we’ve been wrong before so we might change, but no promises though.

Gameranx: What can you tell me about these little creatures? Do you already have a set number of species we will see at launch?

Tim: I can tell you that we haven’t shown the range of variety we are aiming for. We won’t compete with Pokémon or Palworld in numbers but we hope to create some memorable little (and big) creatures that are quite different from each other.

Gameranx: Can you share anything about the world we’ll be exploring? For instance, are there NPCs we will interact with outside of these little critters?

Tim: Yes, there is currently a market with characters that you interact with, and some out in the wilds. We’re not sure on the scope around NPCs for early access launch but it’s definitely part of the game. Other than that, we want players to explore this mysterious world for themselves!

Gameranx: We understand this is going up first through early access. Do you already have an internal roadmap for what all players will see added in as you work towards the full launch?

Tim: We have rough ideas but usually what happens in our experience is that you get somewhat inspired by players’ suggestions and expectations so we don’t want to lock anything in. One of our most memorable experiences working on a early access title was making Update 3 for Satisfactory and that was definitely not planned in advance. 

Gameranx: Could you update us on where we are at in the development process?

Tim: We’re currently working on getting our build ready for closed alpha which we will hopefully start later this year (which anyone can sign up for at www.amongthewildgame.com). We want to get the most important stuff in there so we can test on players and start polishing the core of the game. Hopefully this will inform us on how ready we are for an early access release.

Gameranx: When can players expect to see more of Among The Wild?

Tim: We will do updates on Discord, socials and YouTube in the coming months as we develop the game!

As mentioned, we are still waiting for Among The Wild to land on Steam. However, as Tim mentioned, the team is working to create a closed alpha build that you can sign up to play. So, some of you will get a chance to try the game out and provide feedback for the development team ahead of its release through early access.