Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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GNAW applies familiar Metroidvania gameplay to a world in which dinosaurs never went extinct, and it uses some interesting custom tooling and technologies to make that happen. We talk to one of its designers, Vicky Wei, about what makes a good Metroidvania, the value of their custom toolsets for a project like this, and more!

Check out more about GNAW:
Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/2306490/GNAW

Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:29 - What is GNAW?
01:15 - Designing a Metroidvania
02:45 - What makes a "good" Metroidvania?
03:52 - Finding its visual style
05:39 - A bone-based animation system!
07:15 - The technology and toolset behind GNAW
09:26 - Suggestions on starting your own game
10:35 - Release window / outro

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