Indie developers with previous work experience at Unfrozen and Kefir are seeking 16-22 million rubles to produce a game in the spirit of Limbo and Inside, but featuring a cute cat

Continuing with our column "Developer/Publisher Wanted," where indie teams share about themselves, their projects, and the funds they need. This time, the publication features a cartoonish platformer about a cat's adventure — "Vaska."

If you're an indie, ready to talk about your project and are also seeking investments, a publisher, or someone for your team, definitely write to us in the column on Telegram — https://t.me/overwordly.

The project was narrated by Igor Platov, one of the developers of "Vaska."

Igor Platov

About the Team

Currently, the IGR Studio team consists of six people. Most of us have considerable experience in the game development industry, with some working in it for over 10 years. Notable studios where team members have worked include Unfrozen, Kefir, and "Alpha Bank" (gaming department). Some of the team members have also worked on projects for international clients.

The development of the project started with Igor's prototype (studio lead, primarily a programmer) back in 2022. The core team came together at the end of 2024 when the lead artist and animator joined the project. We all live on salaries from our primary jobs, unrelated to the project. The team is scattered across Russia: Moscow, Rostov-on-Don, Saint Petersburg, Nizhnevartovsk.

About the Project

"Vaska" is being developed using the Unity engine for the PC platform (with plans to port it to consoles in the future). Currently, the development is in the final stages of pre-production. We plan to announce it on Steam by the end of the year, and aim to release the project by the end of 2026.

About the Gameplay/Mechanics

The game is an adventure-based 2D puzzle-platformer with a focus on adventure. We strive to reveal the game through its atmosphere and world-building. We are heavily inspired by Limbo and Little Nightmares in this regard. We aim to present a dark forest with many locations and creepy, twisted monsters from our tales, while the main character is an adorable kitty who must navigate through this horror.

From a gameplay perspective, players can expect many intriguing puzzles: each location and monster will have its own key mechanic. For instance, the blowing wind in the starting location and the blazing fire with The Stove (from the fairy tale "By the Pike's Command"). Our goal is for the puzzles not to repeat and for each new level to have a unique passing method.

About the Target Audience

Main audience:

Players aged 16–35;
Those who enjoy storytelling through world details, environment, and sounds, and primarily focus on the visual aspect of the project;
Fans of atmospheric platformers (such as Limbo, Inside, Stray, Little Nightmares, and GRIS);
Lovers of games about cute animals, including cats.

About the Business Model

The premium model priced around 10-15 dollars. Sales expectations depend on whether we can find an investor. If yes, we can aim for higher targets and a higher product price by improving its quality and duration.

Good examples of projects similar to ours in scale include Seasons after Fall and Hoa. Of course, we occasionally glance at particularly successful projects like Limbo, Planet of Lana, and GRIS.

About the Metrics

The project has not been publicly announced yet, but we have a Telegram channel, Reddit, and X (Twitter) where we test early interest and gather the first engaged audience. Since our first presentation of the game at KII ("Conference of the Gaming Industry") in Saint Petersburg, we have received positive feedback, a few shares from gaming media, and we are starting to observe organic growth, albeit still within local limits, as there hasn't been a full announcement yet.

We plan a full announcement on Steam closer to the end of 2025. After the announcement, we will focus on wishlist growth and project visibility — through community work on platforms as well as media engagement.

If we continue developing independently, our target is around 50,000 copies. If we can secure investments, we aim for 100,000+. We plan to actively promote Vaska's cuteness and the uniqueness of the monsters. Recently, cats in games have been in high demand.

Whom We’re Looking For

Currently, we are looking for a publisher or investor who can help us bring the project to release at a decent level of quality — both visually and in terms of the gaming experience.

The expected investment amount is between 16 to 22 million rubles. These funds will go towards the project's development, including programming, game design, art, animation, sound, and localization.

About marketing and promotion. We can either handle it ourselves (we have a decent understanding of how to properly promote our product) or we are ready to take advantage of a publisher's assistance.

How to Get in Touch?

You can follow us here:

Telegram channel: http://t.me/studioigr

Email: studioigr@yandex.com
Telegram: @IGR100