@Devcom/Gamescom
August 2023
We are going to showcase our game demo at Devcom this year and will also be running around in PUNZEL shirts and funny headgear at Gamescom. If you see us, say hello!
OK Cool Podcast
July 2023
I was invited to talk about the game on a Podcast Series by Dom Schott called OK Cool. If you understand German and are curious about some background info about the conception of the game's premise and foundational values it is worth a listen.
PUNZEL Art Competition
June 2023
During Steam Next we had an art competition running. While the number of participants was rather moderate, the quality of the input was excellent. The two winning entries were awarded a unique, customized Gobbo character and a package of Punzel Merch.
Steam Next Festival and Stream
June 2023
Seeing that we were in the final stages of our game, we applied for the Steam Next Fest in June, pushing us to finish our public demo and prepare for a live Stream. While our first scheduled Stream completely misfired as we failed for two hours to figure out the one option we had to set to be published live, we managed to get some great viewership numbers towards the end of the week with at one point 650 viewers. Check out our Stream on YouTube!
@ Frankfurt Book Fair
October 2022
After months of preparation, the week of the fair finally arrived and we were able to show our game demo to hundreds of visitors. Apart from a trailer compilation and a playable demo, we had also prepared a mask-coloring booth event with Punzel/Overlord and Gobbo-themed paper masks that were all highly enjoyed by our visitors.
Ideentanke Winners
April 2022
Like the year before, the Media and Film Society Baden-Württemberg opened up a competition “Ideentanke” where winners got to participate at the regional booth at the Bookfair in Frankfurt. We signed up and were extremely happy to hear that we had been chosen for one of the open slots.
At this point, the team had also grown and now included these new Team-Members:
Bitowl (Programming)
Paul Mitzner (Game Design & Programming)
Waldemar Tomme
(Programming & Dev Ops)
Jennifer
Dradrach (Game Design & Animation)
Advent Calendar
December 2021
My sister Mathilde, a highly talented sound designer and composer created an advent calendar composing the SFX for the first version of the game.
Ideentanke - Feedback Sunday
September 2021
We got the chance to playtest the first version of our game at the Baden-Württemberg booth at the book-fair in Frankfurt at the Feedback Sunday event. It is thanks to the feedback we got at this event that the game now features jumping.
Punzel GameToon -Start Development
May 2021
In May 2021 a great opportunity opened up when three talented students decided to sign up for an
internship at my company. Together we brainstormed a new vision for a Punzel game: a webtoon-like game
format we dubbed “GameToon”, in which the Punzel comics could be experienced interactively.
This is when the work on “Punzel: Chapter 1 - Toujours la meme Histoire” began.
Dev-Team at that point:
Greta Hoffmann (Idea & Lead)
Raphael Martin (Programming)
Quirin Graf-Nekola
(Programming Assistance
& Game Design)
Katharina
Henschel (Animation & Game Design)
Konrad
Dierksen
(Game Design & 3D Art)
Mathilde Hoffmann (Sound Design)
The in-between time - Worldbuilding
2016-2021
During my Ph.D. time, I stopped working on Punzel-related games but continued to build the world, create sketches, invent new characters, and enhanced my overall vision of the universe Punzels world is set in. I also continued to draw (and redraw) Punzel comics - mostly around the topic of her life in the castle.
Punzel “Mine the Gap” & “Slack & Slay” in cooperation with KIT
October 2015
In a second cooperation project, two more games with a hot-seat premise were built: “Punzel: Mine the Gap” & “Punzel: Slack & Slay”.
“Punzel: Mine the Gap” is a sabotage and planning-based minecart racing game in which both characters travel through the vast underground vault of the Overlord using railway switches to trap the other one in prolonged routes while activating shortcuts for themselves. This game has an especially elaborate level editor.
Developed by:
Greta Hoffmann (Idea, Supervision, 2D Art) Sebastian Finzenhagen (3D Modeling & Animation) Nicklas Dohrn, Christoph Fischer, Bitowl, Rafael Kübler, Niel Wagensommer, Mark Weinreuter (Programming) Mathilde Hoffmann, Erik Beckmann (Music & SFX) Gregor Mückl and Max-Gerd Retzlaff (Supervision Programming)
“Punzel: Slack & Slay” plays as a game of catch in the Overlord's courtyard where one player controls Punzel trying to run away while the other has to steer the Overlord's sleigh via two separately controlled Gobbos that are harnessed to it while the Overlord frequently swipes at her with a giant bug net.
Developed by:
Greta Hoffmann (Idea, Supervision, 2D Art) Kay Fleck (3D Modeling & Animation) Reiner Dolp, Philipp Krones, Cedric Freiberger (Programming) Mathilde Hoffmann, Erik Beckmann (Music & SFX) Gregor Mückl and Max-Gerd Retzlaff (Supervision Programming)
Punzel “Race for Freedom” in cooperation with KIT
September 2014 - February 2015
During my time as a lecturer at the Gamelab Karlsruhe at HfG Karlsruhe which is focused on media art, design, and philosophy, we formed a collaboration with the informatics department of the technical uni KIT to work on game projects. Building on the already existing premise of the Punzel world we decided to build games that feature the captured damsel in her various attempts to escape the Overlord and his minions.
We came up with the concept for a 3D, 2-Player hot seat game based on the respective activation and avoidance of traps. The game is set in the hall leading towards the castle entrance and plays out Punzel's last stretch of her escape. In the game, one player takes control of the Overlord that activates traps on the way. The opponent playing as Punzel tries to avoid these traps with a fitting evasion maneuver. As a special feature, a third player can take over the mouse and play bomb-throwing Gobbos that actively or inadvertently can sabotage both players. The game offers a level editor in which additional levels can be built.
Developed by:
Greta Hoffmann (Idea, Supervision, 2D Art) Kay Fleck (3D Modeling & Animation) Florian Breuer, Timo Kegelmann, David Knecht, Raphael Martin, Jasmin Tischner, Jonas Vogl (Programming) Mathilde Hoffmann, Erik Beckmann (Music & SFX) Gregor Mückl and Max-Gerd Retzlaff (Supervision Programming)
First Comic: Toujours la meme Histoire
July 2014
Now that the world in which Punzel lives was brought to life, I started to play around with my favourite character in the form of a Webcomic. Experimenting with the tone, style, and format, the first Punzel Comic was born.
In this first comic, a set of narrative rules were established that still form core principles of Punzel's world.
1. No verbal communication
2. Classic black and white Manga style
3. In every story, a rescue attempt fails - mostly as a side note
4. The apple is a central object of desire
5. Punzel will regularly fail but is unwilling to be brought down by that
6. Any diversion is welcomed
7. The castle is barren but not entirely hostile
Ridiculously Large Swords - the birth of Punzel
February 2014
In uni, we came together as a team of students who enjoyed fantasy-related humor. We were fans of webcomics like “Order of the Stick”, fantasy books like the Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett, Point&Click Adventures like “Simon the Sorcerer” and Games like “Overlord”, “Dungeon Keeper” and the Heroes of Might and Magic Series.
With the aim to achieve similar heights, we started working on a 3D mobile game that would be centered around using common fantasy tropes and twisting them in funny ways. Building on the trope of the impractical weaponry that is especially prevalent in RPGs like the “Final Fantasy” series, the idea for “Ridiculously Large Swords” arose - a game where you use ridiculously large swords to fight your way out from the inside of a castle as one of two main characters:
The Perfectly Helpless Princess
After another failed rescue attempt, a prince's sword miraculously lands on the balcony of the damsel in distress. Seeing a golden opportunity, she takes it into her own hands to try to rescue herself.
The Gentleman Brute
Built on his dedication to doing a great job, the Overlords Butler - a highly trained and delicate Ork - finally gets fed up with the antics of the other members of the castle staff - the constantly squabbling, out-of-control Gobbos. Something snaps in him and he decides to leave - in a drastic fashion.
You fight your way towards the Main Hall - overcoming Spiders and Gobbos - only to face the mighty OVERLORD.
We managed to finish a game prototype for mobile devices with the first level. However, the originally planned scope was overly ambitious while the game lacked a clear vision of a unique gameplay or selling point to warrant further development.
Developed by:
Brice Clocher, Greta Hoffmann (Idea & Producing and 2D Assets) Julian Faude, Michael Sohm, Justus Ulbrich (Programming) Kay Fleck, Andrés Stober (3D Modeling & Animation) Gregor Belogour (additional Textures and 2D) Music & Sound (Martin Buntz, Stellar Art Wars)
However, the character of Punzel and the world-building premise stuck with me, and started to grow an independent life...