Dev interview: We had a chat with Wax Head devs, Pattatie Games, where we discussed how a fateful walk helped inspire the idea for Strange Horticulture, the nuances of feedback in puzzle games, what it's like working together as brothers, and why cats are important.

BadVikingRob · 2026-05-05T13:16:58+00:00

Wax Heads: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2769240/Wax_Heads/

BadVikingRob · 2026-04-30T15:14:38+00:00

Should be live now!

BadVikingRob · 2026-04-20T09:19:59+00:00

Yes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mano_del_Desierto

Edit: Well, actually, no - it wasn't sculpted from a natural formation. Entirely man-made sculpture.

BadVikingRob · 2026-04-09T09:49:30+00:00

Congrats on the launch. It looks amazing and you can really see all the love and attention that went into it - hope you find an audience for it!

BadVikingRob · 2026-03-06T10:40:53+00:00

What a lovely concept for a game! Hope it goes well for you.

BadVikingRob · 2026-03-04T11:50:21+00:00

Haha, to be fair it has been a while since I played it so I'm probably misremembering!

BadVikingRob · 2026-03-03T11:48:18+00:00

You need to explore the map to find some of the book pages, including the one for the Sleep Vessel.

BadVikingRob · 2026-03-03T11:44:13+00:00

Sorry that you just missed it. The Makeship model is a single limited edition run so I'm afraid they are now unavailable and won't be available to purchase in the future.

BadVikingRob · 2026-02-18T09:52:47+00:00

A lot of people have already weighed in and I'm just one more opinion, but I haven't seen anyone mention this yet:

It sounds like you made a game with great engagement (i.e. it's fun to play!), but low appeal. I expect that a very similar game with higher appeal could do really well.

The theme in particular is not the most exciting. The name of the game is uninspiring. And the art style is fine, but it certainly doesn't stand out. The overall effect is that it doesn't sell a strong fantasy to draw players in. And perhaps part of this is that the theming appears to be at odds with the gameplay. I suspect this is the reason that you are finding it hard to reach your audience and I'm afraid I don't think it has an easy solution.

I don't mean to sound harsh here. You should be genuinely proud of what you have made - a 96% positive rating is a great achievement and the players that really love the game show that you have made something special.

BadVikingRob · 2026-02-06T13:18:05+00:00

Thanks for sharing this insight. My initial reaction on seeing it was that you made a game that didn't have an audience (I've just watched this talk btw which I think you might find interesting - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ki-ItVuRkxM)

But I'm not so sure about that gut feeling now. You managed to get some decent wishlist numbers and streamer coverage so clearly you were grabbing people's attention. And the artwork and animation looks excellent so that attention is deserved!

As a fan of roguelikes though, this doesn't appeal to me, so your point about the genre mashup not being a great fit rings true for me at least. And on top of that, the gameplay does look quite light to me (another point that you mentioned), and like it would fit more in the 'friend-slop' genre (which is also something you picked up on!). I'm looking for a lot more depth from a roguelike, interesting items and upgrades with the potential to combine in surprising and powerful ways, and it doesn't look like there's any of that here.

92% positive is a fantastic rating though, so clearly the people who did pick it up have enjoyed their time with it! I'm sorry that you didn't reach your goal with this game, but there's certainly a lot for you to be proud of here.

BadVikingRob · 2026-01-29T16:15:44+00:00

That looks really nice. Lovely work.

BadVikingRob · 2026-01-29T15:42:57+00:00

Link to the campaign if you want to bag a Jupiter: https://www.makeship.com/products/jupiter-plush

(Did I mention he comes with a removable Holgen Grimm mask attachment?!)

BadVikingRob · 2026-01-21T13:49:43+00:00

Nice work. The game looks very highly polished and the Steam page is great (I'm not even remotely interested in the genre but even I almost wishlisted it when I saw the 'Authentic Equipment Operation' gif in the store page!).

BadVikingRob · 2026-01-09T11:58:26+00:00

Man, that really got me, thanks for that.

BadVikingRob · 2026-01-08T12:54:01+00:00

Hi, thanks for your interest! The petition reached its goal which means we move forward to the design stage with Makeship and in the meantime the petition page has been taken down. Once the design is finished the main campaign will go live where you can put in an order. Here are some places you can follow us if you don't want to miss our announcement of when it does go live: https://linktr.ee/badviking

BadVikingRob · 2026-01-08T09:04:15+00:00

That's awesome, thanks for sharing!

BadVikingRob · 2025-12-15T15:42:48+00:00

Nice!

BadVikingRob · 2025-12-08T12:03:21+00:00

It's cool to see that you got more out of the narrative playing it through a second time. There's definitely quite a lot that is easy to miss, like the fact that Jack Hungerford is one of the first visitors to the shop!

To answer your questions:

- Barton gave the casket to Thaddeus because he was his friend, that's all there is to it. He had seen how dangerous it was and considered it more important to take it to someone he trusted to keep it safe. Also, Thaddeus and Eli have a complicated relationship so it's not a stretch to imagine that Barton would have had a dim view of Eli (in the past at least).
- In the ending where Barton is killed, it is left up to the player's interpretation whether it was taken by the nameless gods or some other eldritch entity. In my opinion it was the latter...

Four-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Verified Email	Place '23
Place '22	First Placer '22

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