Amnesia Fortnights are semi-annual recreation jam occasions that Double Nice 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 recreation – that is when Derek pitched his thought to deliver Kiln to life. “I performed a number of motion video games on the time, and I needed to make my little clay characters struggle another person’s little clay characters. I used to be pondering that’d be enjoyable — and in order that was behind my thoughts — however didn’t understand how to do this on a controller.”

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

“There are a complete world of strategies and processes and a lot uncooked materials to tug into the sport, that when we have been like, ‘Okay, you may 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 fundamental form, however now I wish to dip it into glaze — to glaze a pot you’re taking a pair of metallic tongs and also you dunk it right into a bucket of glaze — and actually making an attempt to tug these items of real-life pot making into the sport and introducing these concepts to gamers.”

From there, extra concepts happened when it comes to how a participant may customise their pot past its fundamental form. From sticking on handles, lids and spouts, and even getting a little bit sillier by including stickers, there are numerous other ways you may take a fundamental clay pot and actually make it your personal. “All of it got here all the way down to analysis and concepts from folks on the staff after which having a pile of these concepts and whittling all of them all the way down to one thing that’s coherent and properly designed,” Model says.

However how do you translate a troublesome pastime like clay pot making right into a aggressive multiplayer recreation? Making certain it’s as approachable as doable. “After the Amnesia Fortnight prototype, we obtained by way of that half and a number 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 school and realized a little bit bit about pot making, however it was extra of a technique to match character creation onto a controller.”

By utilizing a controller, you may 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 will have entry to a number of shaping instruments that may deliver one other stage of element to the pot creation. As I touched on in my first take a look at the sport, it didn’t take lengthy for me to get the grasp 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 interact 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 valuable with it,” he tells me. “Strive a bunch of stuff and determine what you want as a result of there’s not a number of limits placed on you when it comes to what you may form and what number of issues you may strive. So actually experiment with the instruments. Should you like actually straight strains, there’s instruments for that. And for those who 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 staff that the pots are the star of the sport. After we began pulling the digital camera out, and the lens obtained longer, you can see all of the bizarre creations that folks have been making collectively and see groups as models on the battlefield. And it simply felt like a better option for the best way that we needed to current these cool participant creations.”

Having performed a number of 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 staff and in your opponents’. Additionally, seeing extra of the pathways of the extent structure above your character is significant to successfully navigating by way 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 celebration brawlers – nowhere else can you will have this stage of deep character customization to deliver right into a multiplayer battler. The sheer number of pots you’ll face off in opposition to within the recreation, 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’re 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 need to go to battle. As Derek tells me, if you wish to actually give attention to the pot making, you may hand around in the foyer and simply pull up a chair. “There’s no restrict to what number of occasions you may throw clay on the wheel, and you’ll simply experiment and make all kinds of issues and check out all kinds of mixtures. We actually need folks to interact 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 may simply, you recognize, make a brand new factor.”

Whenever you’re transferring by way 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 may come alongside and take your form as properly and add it to their assortment. “The title of the one that made it’s at all times saved on that pot,” Model explains. “So these pots can journey. They will go to completely different servers. There’s additionally a spot within the foyer, these pedestals lined up round The Wedge, these are your favourite pots. And that might be displayed for everybody to check out and dive into. And for those who see a pot that you simply actually like, you may dive into it and put it aside to your assortment.”

And this circles again to the mantra the staff at Double Nice are bringing to Kiln in that the pots actually are the star of the sport – you’ll immediately 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 improvement. “I feel it’s an underrepresented artwork kind. I simply wish to introduce extra folks to that craft. It’s tremendous cool. It’s an excellent outdated, wonderful artwork kind. And there are only a few video games that leverage that cool exercise.”

And with its day one arrival on Sport Cross in Spring 2026, gamers who’re interested in checking it out may have it proper there at their fingertips. “My favourite half about Sport Cross, I feel it’s simply the attain that you simply get. Anybody who’s simply interested in this bizarre pottery recreation can load it up and take a look at making a pot — then strive smashing one another. I can’t look ahead to 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 Anyplace, Handheld Optimized, PlayStation 5, Steam, and with Xbox Sport Cross Final. Join at DoubleFine.com for an opportunity to play within the closed beta happening in March 2026.