The Hippo-Party-Plus Update, Physical Edition Launch and Much More!

After a fairly slow August, September has been a big month for our studio! We finally announced and officially launched the Ultimate Chicken Horse update that we’ve been working on! And that’s far from the only cool thing happening! 

Here’s what’s included in this month’s newsletter:

• The Hippo-Party-Plus Update for Ultimate Chicken Horse launch

• The A-Neigh-Versary Physical Edition is launching soon

• The Game Devs of Color Expo (Sep 23 - 27th)

• Studio plans for Truth and Reconciliation Day

• Our monthly donations

Hippo-Party-Plus Update

Earlier this month we announced the Hippo-Party-Plus update for Ultimate Chicken Horse! It introduces our new character, Hippo, an alternate skin, Triceratops, a new level, rollercoaster, and much more.

The Hippo-Party-Plus update launched on all platforms this week, so check it out!

For more details on what is in the update and a note about the future of Ultimate Chicken Horse, mosey on over to our update page here.

We’d also like to thank the streamers who participated in our second ever sponsored tournament! Check them out and catch the VODs on their channels: HCJustin, MathasGames, McLaffyTaffy, itsonlyJill, citRa, Empyre, JOJOsaysbreee, Octopimp, Strippin, TieTuesday, Lythero, The_Meez, GoonGalaxie, TiffanyWitcher, JustWulfGaming...

And our tournament winner, Coestar!

A-Neigh-Versary Edition 

The physical edition of Ultimate Chicken Horse, the A-Neigh-Versary Edition, is launching on September 28. We’re also excited to announce that the Hippo-Party-Plus update is pre-loaded onto the cartridges!

This Switch exclusive is available directly through Merge Games or at multiple retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop. 

GDoC Expo

The wonderful Game Devs of Color Expo started on Thursday, the 23rd and goes through until Monday, September 27.

It started off strong with an indie games showcase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3ehCSmbfRE

They’re keeping the ball rolling with plenty of talks and panels throughout the next couple of days, including ones on entering the gaming industry. Check out the schedule and grab a ticket here.

Truth and Reconciliation Day

On September 30, 2021 our studio will be recognizing the first national Truth and Reconciliation Day by dedicating our workday to learning. 

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report highlights the actions recommended to address the immeasurable harm caused by the colonization of Canada and the Residential School Systems.

We highly recommend that others, especially our fellow Canadians, also spend some time to learn and reflect on this day! Here’s a place to get started: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/national-day-truth-reconciliation.html 

We’ll also be reflecting on actions that we can take as both individuals and as a studio on how we can contribute to these causes. As part of this learning, we’ll be choosing a related charity to donate to - more on that soon.

Charity Corner

For August’s employee-led donation, Rich chose to split the donation between the SPCA and P10, a charity that helps support the LGBTQ+ community here in Montreal. 

Ultimate Chicken Horse Physical Edition Pre-Orders, Game Devs of Color Expo and More!

It’s been a pretty quiet month at the studio as we have a bunch of staff vacations and things in motion behind the scenes. That being said, rest assured we’re still chipping away at the Ultimate Chicken Horse update and our new project!

Physical Edition Pre-Order Links

As we announced last month, we’re working with Merge Games to provide a physical edition of Ultimate Chicken Horse which includes the soundtrack, a compendium booklet, and keychain.

Check your local game providers to see if it’s available near you, or pre-order it from one of these sources:

US: Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop

Canada: Amazon, GameStop

Europe: Amazon UK, Amazon Spain

Australia: EB Games

Game Devs of Color Expo

Back in May, we talked about sponsoring the Game Devs of Color Expo and now it’s right around the corner! They’ll be showing off a wide range of games like Button City, Spirit Swap and Aerial_Knight's Never Yield. There will also be a multitude of talks that range from beating crunch, entering the gaming industry, levelling up as a content creator and so much more.

For the full list of games and talks being shown September 23-27, check it out here.

Donation Corner

Alexis led our employee donation for July. He chose the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS). With more than 5,000 unmarked graves discovered at previous Residential School sites, we encourage  everyone to read more about the history of these schools and how to help. 

We’d also like to take a moment to recognize and acknowledge that our studio is on unceded Indigenous lands. The Kanien’kehá:ka Nation is recognized as the custodians of the lands and waters on which we inhabit and we will be working on adding an official land acknowledgement to our website. We are committed to listening, learning and taking additional steps that work towards reconciliation.

Things That Have Caught Our Eye

With things being a little quieter, I thought I’d ask our team about things that have caught their attention outside of work this month. Here’s what a few of our team members have been reading, watching or playing this month:

Kyler: I’ve always been a bit interested in urban design since playing SimCity as a kid.  I’ve found this Youtube channel, Not Just Bikes, extremely useful in helping me understand why some cities feel so welcoming, and livable, while others feel hostile and unwelcoming to people on foot.  The video that defines Stroads (Streets mixed with Roads) is a favourite.

Alex: I watched the new Suicide Squad movie and was impressed with how much better it was than the last, and I've been re-watched The Venture Bros. which is one of the funniest adult animated series around.

Fabio: I’ve been researching about the ‘water wars’ and how this could lead us into another worldwide conflict. It usually starts with a country making a dam that kills the flow of a river that is a major part in the sustainability of another country. Huge wars over water used to be something from science fiction books when I was a kid and now they are a sad reality.

Elisabeth: I’ve been getting into The Discworld novels! I’ve read a lot of Neil Gaiman and had always heard amazing things about Terry Pratchett so, when I drove here from the West Coast, my sister read the first book to me from the passenger’s seat. Now, I’m finally sitting down with book two haha

Steph: I’ve been excited for Boyfriend Dungeon for a long time now, so I was ecstatic that it launched recently! I’ve also been playing a bunch of Civilization VI this month alongside a mobile visual novel, Tears of Themis.

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Looking forward to sharing more news with you…. Soon ;)

<3

The Clever Endeavour Team

Introducing Elisabeth, Ultimate Chicken Horse Physical Edition and More!

We’re back at it with some more studio updates. Here is what is in this month’s post:

• Introducing a new studio teammate, Elisabeth!

• Ultimate Chicken Horse physical edition

• Charity corner

Introducing Elisabeth!

A few weeks ago we had Elisabeth join the studio as our Studio Coordinator! We’re so happy to have her. Here are a few words from her about who she is and her role in the company:

“Hello and thank you! Let me just say, joining the team and starting to get to know everyone has been a whirlwind. The world of indie games is new to me - and so I’ve already been learning a lot! - but what I do bring to the table is a diverse set of arts management skills. For the past decade, I’ve been working in film, theatre, and visual arts as both a creative and leader. Now, I’m excited to share that experience with Clever Endeavour and support the team in their upcoming projects.”

Ultimate Chicken Horse Goes Physical

That’s right, we’ve partnered with our friends at Merge Games to provide physical copies of Ultimate Chicken Horse for the first time!

Here are some more details:

• Switch exclusive

• For European + North American regions

• Launching this October

• Includes all of the current content in the game

• Will get the same updates as the digital version

• Includes the soundtrack, keyring and booklet

For more news on pre-order and retail availability, follow Merge Games on Twitter (@MergeGamesLtd) and we’ll have links up on our website when they’re available.

Charity Corner

Our employee-led charity initiative is still ongoing. The choice for the month of June was up to Alex, who chose Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). 

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Other than that we’re still working hard on the next Ultimate Chicken Horse update, which is still planned for this year, and still developing the next unannounced game. We can’t wait to share details on these when they’re ready!

<3

The Clever Endeavour Team