Peyton Blake - Esophaguys

Esophaguys is a co-op platformer about old folks with long necks. Developed by a team of four, the game won the Grand Prix at Tokyo Game Show 2024's Sense of Wonder Night contest competing with 974 entries. Esophaguys has been selected for festivals around the globe since its inception in 2022 and it set to release worldwide on all platforms Spring 2025.

Throughout the three years of development, I wore many hats. My primary responsibilities include:

Game Design - original concept, gameplay design, level design
Production - team management, planning, business operations
Audio - personally recording, editing, and implementing all audio assets
Animation - bringing life to the characters, world, and mechanics

Please view the official website to learn more and see the latest updates on the game:

Esophaguys Official Website

Game Design

Esophaguys was slowly formulating in my head for. The earliest depiction of an Esophaguy dates back to my high school art class. One day in college, during a game production class, I pitched a game concept to my professor and peers. Once the design was on paper, it just needed executed.

The game is a culmination of passion projects and an homage to the type of games l was brought up with - Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, Castle Crashers, Eggmania. It is silly, easy to play, and hard to master. It is best enjoyed with a small group of friends.

Mechanically, I was inspired by Heave Ho, Gang Beasts, and the like. These games really capture the spirit of difficult-to-control-physicsy-fun. The character controller is the core mechanic in these games. It is the same in Esophaguys. Putting the player in different scenarios and environments brings the fun out of the unique character controller. Combining this intrinsic joy with 3 more players enhances the enjoyment to the peak level.

Esophaguys GDD

EsophaguysPitchDoc2.0_1 (2).pdf

Producer

As producer, I gained valuable insight in team management and project planning. I facilitated discussions among team members, resolved conflicts, and directed the team in the game's vision. Creating and maintaining schedules, granted me understanding of the inconsistencies of the game development pipeline.

People skills are of utmost importance in this role, and I learned how to help different teammates with different issues. By maintaining group cohesion and a positive team spirit, I helped everyone give their best to the project.

Sample Gantt Chart used for Esophaguys:

Sound Designer

As sound designer, I created and implemented all of the audio in the game. During this process, I became acquainted with the entire game audio pipeline, from recording, mixing, and editing to scripting and implementing in Unity.

Esophaguys features a world's first for video game soundscapes. It the first game to feature traditional music on jews-harp accompanied with over 3000+ personally-recorded, mouth-originated SFX.

All SFX must be personally recorded with mouth sounds and remain unedited
All music must feature the jews-harp, with a focus on traditional music from America, Krygyzstan, India, the British Isles, Yakutia, Austria, and Norway.

These restrictions pushed my creativity and produced a distinctive sound for our game.

By using FMOD, I was able to create 3D sound effects, based on the players' positions. In addition, sounds are appropriately randomized, so Esophaguys sounds unique with each play session.

FMOD project:

Artist

As artist and animator, I created character concepts, animations, and provided art direction.

I used my previous knowledge in physical media art and graphic design to create wonky characters that suited our game's main mechanic.

By using Spine, I created 2D animations that made the player's movements feel fluid and natural.

Spine Project:

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