We’ve all experienced a time when we’re surrounded by people yet feel completely out of place. That’s the exact feeling Dodo Duckie starts from: a duckling raised among chickens, convinced something is wrong with him because he just can’t fit in.

A few years ago, we were an unproven team pitching a massive, overly ambitious game to publishers. Getting backing for a project of that scale is incredibly difficult in India’s indie scene, and the passes we got back eventually forced a practical question: What can we actually build and see through to the end completely on our own?

The answer turned out to be a duck.

I’m Samhith, the creative director at BornMonkie, a small indie studio in India that I run alongside my sister and producer, Samveda. This is the story behind our debut puzzle platformer, Dodo Duckie – now available on Xbox Series X|S and PC.

Even though Dodo’s search for belonging comes from a deeply personal place for us, we wanted his adventure to feel like a warm hug. It’s a bright, cozy world where his clumsy attempts to fit in are played for laughs, turning a heavy theme into a light-hearted journey about playful discovery.

Quacking the Code

Back in the day, many of the studios we look up to started their journeys with iconic mascot platformers. Looking back, we realized we had accidentally followed in their exact footsteps with Dodo Duckie.

We built our first prototype back in 2019, but as a busy service studio, the game became a long-term labor of love. For years, we chipped away at it on and off between client jobs and a million other prototypes. Early on, we made a radical design decision: remove the jump mechanic entirely from a 3D space.

We initially assumed this unique switching mechanic would be our main hook. But as players tested the game, they showed us something else: they were falling for Dodo  Duckie before they even understood the puzzles. That feedback changed how we looked at our own game. We realized Dodo’s personality was the front door, and our puzzle design was the reason to stay once you walked through. Juggling service work meant it took until 2025 to fully realize this vision, but we’ve finally built a home we can’t wait for players to enter.

Getting Dodo Just Right

Getting the game to actually look right was a massive hurdle, we spent two to three months iterating on prototypes we just weren’t happy with. The turning point came when our Art director, Vincent Boichut, joined the team and diagnosed the real problem. Because we were balancing tight resources, we only had the budget to build a single set of assets that had to work perfectly across two perspectives. Everything had to be read clearly, whether players saw it head-on in 3D or flattened into 2D.

That restraint became our superpower. It’s the real reason the world leans toward clean shapes, rounded edges, and vibrant colors. What looks like a purely stylistic choice was actually born out of a need for perfect readability, though we’re thrilled it happens to be extremely cute, too.

Finding Our Wings

Underneath the puzzles is a story we care about deeply. Dodo grows up among chickens, trying desperately to fit in before learning that his differences are exactly what make him special. It’s a struggle our team knows intimately. Growing up in India’s highly competitive culture, pursuing a creative career in game development meant fighting against strict expectations and risking isolation just to do what we love. Dodo’s journey is ours.

Because of that, we chose to tell his story without heavy dialogue, leaning instead on animation, physical comedy, and character expression. We wanted the emotional beats to feel like a Pixar short, landing purely through what you see, making Dodo’s story universal no matter what language you speak.

Our journey has finally come to life. Dodo Duckie is now available on Xbox Series X|S and PC!

If there’s one thing we hope players take away from our little bird’s story, it’s this: a leap doesn’t have to look graceful to count.

Sometimes it just has to happen.

Dodo Duckie

BornMonkie

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$11.99

You’re a DUCK! with one special cap that gives you the power to switch between 2D and 3D. Use it to explore, switch perspectives, solve puzzles and save your chicken friends.