AINOMORI 
Owly Devlog #1 — A Band of Lost Fukuroko Build a Home in the Forest
Ainomori is making a small survival-and-building game starring the Fukuroko. They talk, they get hungry, and they build houses, farm and raise chickens on their own. This is our first devlog.
Lately, Ainomori has been making a small game called 梟子求生記 — in English, Owly.
Its heroes are the Fukuroko, the little owls of the forest.
A campfire in the night forest
When the game opens, you’re in a forest clearing at night: a campfire burns slowly, fireflies drift around it, and in the darkness, pairs of eyes are blinking.
Three Fukuroko sit by the fire. Wherever you move the mouse, their heads turn to follow; click one, and it hops up and says something to you.
The menu is a wooden signpost stuck in the ground beside the fire, its arrow-shaped planks pointing to “Start a new forest”, “Continue”…
No two Fukuroko are alike
Before you begin, you “roll” your Fukuroko: one walks off into the fog, and a new one steps out of it.
Each has their own personality and story. Some are gentle, some are foodies, some are thick-skinned; others are slowpokes, sleepyheads or picky eaters. And some Fukuroko simply have “things they won’t do” — they won’t fight, won’t do heavy work, won’t cook… All of this shapes how they live in the forest.
Some Fukuroko are also followed by a pet. There are 13 kinds of pets, and each is good at something — the husky, for example, is great at carrying things.
Oh, and the Fukuroko talk like five-year-olds:
“Ch-chop the twee-twee!”
“Tummy hungwy…”
“I can’t do iiit!”
Building a home in the forest
Once you’re in the forest, it’s up to you to keep your Fukuroko going: chopping trees, hauling stones, picking berries — and building a house.
The game never tells you directly what to do. Instead, next to the clock, a Fukuroko’s thought quietly appears, like: “It’s getting dark… so cold. I wish we had a little light.”
Houses are built tile by tile: walls, doors, windows. Enclose a space, and it becomes a “room” — the game even gives it a name, like “Warm Log Bedroom” — and a roof grows over it, from the eaves all the way up to the ridge.
Rooms can hold nests, bookshelves, fireplaces… and when a Fukuroko has things they love in their room, their mood improves (“There’s a mushroom lamp I love in my room”).
When night falls, everyone gathers around the campfire.
Farming and animals
Recently, the Fukuroko have learned to farm.
- There are three kinds of soil: sandy, ordinary and rich. Every crop has its own favourite.
- You can grow carrots, potatoes, strawberries, corn, pumpkins and beans.
- Farm a field long enough and the soil gets tired. Build a compost bin to turn kitchen scraps into compost, and the soil grows rich again.
- With a bit of luck, you might grow a giant crop — a giant pumpkin is so heavy that several Fukuroko have to carry it home together.
The ranch has chickens and sheep. The Fukuroko pick up the animals’ poop and toss it into the compost bin (shouting “Stinky!” as they go).
No stars
In this game, there are no star ratings.
How good a room is, how well something was made — we show it with colour, the kind of colour that makes you happy when you find a rare treasure. We want playing to feel relaxing, not like staring at “how many stars am I still missing”.
Every forest is different
Every forest grows from a “seed code”. You can choose the size of the map, and where you’d like to settle: temperate forest, flower meadow, seashore, swamp, mountains, cedar woods or tropical rainforest.
And of course, you can save and come back to it later.
What’s next
Owly is still in development. We’ll keep writing devlogs to share our progress with you.
May every Fukuroko eat well and sleep warm.
