Concept & game design
We turn a premise into a playable thesis: core loop, economy, progression, and the one feeling the whole game is built to deliver. Delivered as a design document plus a playable grey-box prototype.
2–6 weeksFixed scope
What we do
We make our own games. We also help make yours.
Alongside our own titles, 88741.INC takes on a small number of external projects a year. We are deliberately narrow: cozy, character-led games on Apple platforms, built with hand-made art and shipping-grade engineering.
Capabilities
Six ways to work with us
Engagements can start at any stage. Some partners hand us a finished design document; others arrive with a feeling and a napkin sketch.
Full-cycle development
A complete team — design, engineering, art, audio and QA — taking a project from prototype through certification. You keep the source, the pipeline and every lesson learned.
6–18 monthsDedicated team
Art direction & production
Hand-drawn characters, tilesets, UI kits and animation. We define a visual language first, then produce every asset against it so large teams stay stylistically consistent.
Style guideAsset pipeline
Apple platform porting
iPad, iPhone and Mac ports done properly: Metal rendering, ProMotion, touch and controller input, Apple Pencil, Game Center, iCloud saves and App Store certification.
iPadOSiOSmacOS
Optimisation & technical review
Frame-time profiling, memory budgeting, battery draw and load-time work on hardware we actually own. You get a written report and a prioritised fix list, implemented or handed over.
1–4 weeksAudit
Live operations
Seasonal content, balance passes, event calendars and player support after launch. We plan a twelve-month roadmap with your team so the game still has somewhere to go.
RetainerRoadmap
How a project runs
Six stages, and no surprises in between
Every engagement follows the same rhythm. You always know which stage you are in, what the next gate is, and what it costs to pass it.
01 — DISCOVER
Frame the feeling
Two weeks of workshops, references and constraints. Output: a one-page creative brief everyone signs.
02 — PROTOTYPE
Prove the loop
Playable grey-box on target hardware. If the core loop is not fun now, we stop and re-frame rather than polish.
03 — VERTICAL SLICE
One perfect minute
A fully finished slice of the game — final art, audio and feel — used as the quality bar for everything that follows.
04 — PRODUCTION
Build the body
Two-week sprints, a playable build every Friday, and a shared board you can read at any hour.
05 — POLISH & CERT
Make it shippable
Accessibility pass, localisation, performance budgets, TestFlight beta, and App Store submission handled end to end.
06 — TEND
Keep it growing
Patch cadence, seasonal events and community support. Most partners stay in this stage for years.
Working together
Three ways to engage
| Model | Best for | Typical length | How it is priced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed-scope project | A defined deliverable — a port, an art kit, a prototype — with agreed acceptance criteria. | 4 weeks – 6 months | Quoted per milestone |
| Dedicated team | Full-cycle development where scope will legitimately change as the game finds itself. | 6 – 18 months | Monthly team rate |
| Retainer | Live operations, seasonal content and ongoing support after launch. | Rolling, 3-month minimum | Monthly block of days |
What you always keep
Full source code, art source files and build pipeline, transferred at every gate. No lock-in, no proprietary runtime you have to license later.
How we communicate
One shared channel with your team, a Friday build, and a written weekly summary. Meetings only when something genuinely needs a discussion.
Capacity honesty
We take on at most three external projects a year. If we cannot give your game our full attention, we will say so in the first call.
Toolkit
Boring technology, interesting games
We choose tools we can still hire for in five years. That means mature engines, version-controlled pipelines, and no bespoke editor unless a project truly needs one.
Unity 6
Godot 4
Swift / SwiftUI
Metal
RealityKit
Game Center
CloudKit
StoreKit 2
TestFlight
Xcode Cloud
Git / Perforce
Figma
Procreate
Blender
FMOD
Case study
Sunny Hollow: Camp Home
Our own debut title, and the best demonstration of what the studio does. Built from prototype to App Store by eleven people over twenty-two months.
- TargetiPad, iPadOS 16+
- EngineUnity 6 (URP)
- ArtHand-painted 2D, ~4,200 assets
- Frame budget60 fps on A12 and newer
- SaveiCloud via CloudKit
- PaymentsStoreKit 2, single unlock
Tell us what you are building
Send a paragraph about the game and where it is stuck. If it is a fit we will reply within two business days with honest next steps — including when the answer is "not us".