How a Chicken Game Hatched a Studio

Welcome to our very first dev blog! We've been quietly building for a while, but it feels like the right time to start sharing the story of how Frame Story + Side Quest Games came to life, and where we are today.

The Origin Story

About seven months ago, we kicked off a small hackathon with a few friends - designers, artists, engineers, and storytellers. The idea was simple: build something small, fast, and fun.

What we ended up with was a concept we loved... but also something much bigger than we expected. What started as a quick experiment quickly grew into an ambitious indie project. Through a teammate's introduction, we connected with the Frame Story crew, and that meeting changed everything.

We merged our efforts, and Side Quest Games became the first creative pod under Frame Story. Seven months later, here we are - a stronger team with a shared vision.

Where We Are Now

Fast forward to today - we've got:

• A tight-knit team that works across design, engineering, and art • A clear roadmap for our first game • A community starting to form around our work • And most importantly, a game that's finally starting to feel alive

Cluck, Our First Game!

Without spoiling too much, our first project, Cluck, is a tense, atmospheric platformer about a chicken named Cluck escaping a meat-packing facility. It's inspired by Little Nightmares and Inside, but has its own strange and wonderful identity. We're building in Unreal Engine with a focus on polished gameplay and strong visual storytelling.

We've done some early character design exploring different states of Cluck - different looks, color options, body shapes, and modifications to show captivity. And a huge shout out to our amazing animator, Justin Cichon, for bringing Cluck to life with incredible animations. It really takes it to the next level.

The Rooms

We've also done some rough concepts on each of the rooms where you'll need to navigate around obstacles, solve puzzles, and avoid enemies. Each room is incredibly detailed and has a dark vibe that is probably going to be way too scary for me to play alone. I love it though!

What's Next

We're moving fast toward our first playable demo and can't wait to start sharing more behind-the-scenes looks, from level design sketches to our approach to sound design.

Thanks for being here at the very start of this journey. We're just getting started and we can't wait to share more as Cluck takes shape.