Amnesia Fortnights are semi-annual sport jam occasions that Double Fantastic holds internally with members of its studio. Right here they’re given a restricted period of time, a fortnight (two weeks), to show the inkling of an thought right into a playable sport – that is when Derek pitched his thought to carry Kiln to life. “I performed plenty of motion video games on the time, and I needed to make my little clay characters combat another person’s little clay characters. I used to be pondering that’d be enjoyable — and in order that was at the back of my thoughts — however didn’t understand how to try this on a controller.”

One of many many enjoyable particulars Derek revealed was that as growth began to kick off in earnest, the crew at Double Fantastic began to take pottery lessons in actual life, which contributed to understanding all of the totally different parts concerned within the making of pottery. That’s when the concepts actually began to circulation.

“There are an entire world of methods and processes and a lot uncooked materials to drag into the sport, that when we had been like, ‘Okay, you’ll be able to sculpt a personality,’ there’s a lot extra you are able to do with clay. And all these concepts simply piled on,” Model explains. “We spent a very long time speaking about your primary form, however now I need to dip it into glaze — to glaze a pot you’re taking a pair of steel tongs and also you dunk it right into a bucket of glaze — and actually attempting to drag these items of real-life pot making into the sport and introducing these concepts to gamers.”

From there, extra concepts happened by way of how a participant might customise their pot past its primary form. From sticking on handles, lids and spouts, and even getting slightly sillier by including stickers, there are numerous alternative ways you’ll be able to take a primary clay pot and actually make it your personal. “All of it got here right down to analysis and concepts from folks on the crew after which having a pile of these concepts and whittling all of them right down to one thing that’s coherent and effectively designed,” Model says.

However how do you translate a tough interest like clay pot making right into a aggressive multiplayer sport? Guaranteeing it’s as approachable as potential. “After the Amnesia Fortnight prototype, we acquired by means of that half and plenty of the preliminary concepts of, ‘I could make a personality on the wheel like a pottery wheel’ — that preliminary thought was naive on my half. I had taken ceramics in faculty and discovered slightly bit about pot making, nevertheless it was extra of a option to match character creation onto a controller.”

Through the use of a controller, you’ll be able to transfer your little spirit fingers up and down the form of the clay because it rotates on a digital turning wheel. As well as, you might have entry to a number of shaping instruments that may carry one other stage of element to the pot creation. As I touched on in my first have a look at the sport, it didn’t take lengthy for me to get the dangle of it – all of it felt very pure when given a couple of minutes of time with clay molding instruments. I get the impression gamers will be capable to have interaction with this inventive side of Kiln simply as simply.

When asking Derek if he had any ideas for the budding clay pot maker in all of us, it was easy. “Don’t be scared. Don’t be treasured with it,” he tells me. “Attempt a bunch of stuff and work out what you want as a result of there’s not plenty of limits placed on you by way of what you’ll be able to form and what number of issues you’ll be able to strive. So actually experiment with the instruments. For those who like actually straight traces, there’s instruments for that. And in case you like extra curvy, wiggly issues, simply go along with your intestine or your coronary heart.”

One other a type of iterative concepts to happen throughout this time was adjusting the participant’s viewpoint. “We now have this mantra on the crew that the pots are the star of the sport. Once we began pulling the digicam out, and the lens acquired longer, you possibly can see all of the bizarre creations that individuals had been making collectively and see groups as models on the battlefield. And it simply felt like a better option for the way in which that we needed to current these cool participant creations.”

Having performed just a few rounds myself, I can see what Model is speaking about. A part of Kiln’s enchantment, past being pick-up-and-play pleasant, is seeing everybody’s creativity on full show – each in your crew and in your opponents’. Additionally, seeing extra of the pathways of the extent format above your character is significant to successfully navigating by means of each the battlefield and the fights that encompass your pot.

If it wasn’t clear simply by wanting on the screenshots and gameplay, the pot making in Kiln is what actually helps it stand out amongst different social gathering brawlers – nowhere else can you might have this stage of deep character customization to carry right into a multiplayer battler. The sheer number of pots you’ll face off towards within the sport, when factoring in glazes, shapes, and stickers, is virtually limitless. This helps give Kiln a singular, private contact as a result of these fighters actually make you are feeling such as you’re contributing to the sport in actual time. And that’s fairly particular.

Having all these playable spirits create and uncover clay our bodies for one another is a key part to your time with Kiln. However don’t really feel pressured to should go to battle. As Derek tells me, if you wish to actually concentrate on the pot making, you’ll be able to hand around in the foyer and simply pull up a chair. “There’s no restrict to what number of instances you’ll be able to throw clay on the wheel, and you’ll simply experiment and make all kinds of issues and check out all kinds of combos. We actually need folks to have interaction with the creation and destruction parts of the sport. The theme of the sport proper now could be you make and destroy, and it’s okay to get damaged as a result of you’ll be able to simply, , make a brand new factor.”

Once you’re shifting by means of The Wedge, the sport’s social foyer, you’re additionally free to leap out of your pot and bounce into another person’s creation. And equally, somebody might come alongside and take your form as effectively and add it to their assortment. “The identify of the one that made it’s at all times saved on that pot,” Model explains. “So these pots can journey. They’ll go to totally different servers. There’s additionally a spot within the foyer, these pedestals lined up round The Wedge, these are your favourite pots. And that will likely be displayed for everybody to check out and dive into. And in case you see a pot that you simply actually like, you’ll be able to dive into it and put it aside to your assortment.”

And this circles again to the mantra the crew at Double Fantastic are bringing to Kiln in that the pots actually are the star of the sport – you’ll straight have a hand in shaping your journey inside Kiln. “I’m excited for folks to get excited for pottery,” Derek says when requested what he’s wanting ahead to now that Kiln has been revealed to be in growth. “I feel it’s an underrepresented artwork type. I simply need to introduce extra folks to that craft. It’s tremendous cool. It’s an excellent outdated, superb artwork type. And there are only a few video games that leverage that cool exercise.”

And with its day one arrival on Sport Go in Spring 2026, gamers who’re interested by checking it out can have it proper there at their fingertips. “My favourite half about Sport Go, I feel it’s simply the attain that you simply get. Anybody who’s simply interested by this bizarre pottery sport can load it up and take a look at making a pot — then strive smashing one another. I can’t anticipate the sport to be that accessible to such all kinds of individuals. I’m actually wanting ahead to it.”

Kiln is launching Spring 2026, for Xbox Sequence X|S, Xbox on PC, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Xbox Play Wherever, Handheld Optimized, PlayStation 5, Steam, and with Xbox Sport Go Final. Join at DoubleFine.com for an opportunity to play within the closed beta going down in March 2026.