Q1: I could feel the rich bathing cultures of the island as soon as I set foot on it. Could you give a brief introduction about it and the main inspiration?
Writing Team:
We evolved the art team's foundational bathing concepts into two distinct bathing cultures for both Piecey villages, adapting each to their specific geographical features. "Soakville" sits right by Rainbow Springwater—that combo of salubrious waters and the surrounding terrain makes it perfect for water baths. Hence, we designed it as a place known for its bathhouse and specialty product, the Scrubbing Champ. On the other hand, "Steamville," perched high up and right next to a salt mine, was designed as a destination for hot stone saunas and salt baths, where Crystal Salt of all shapes and sizes makes for perfectly-suited cleaning routines. The difference in the two villages' bathing cultures is also reflected in their residents. Pieceys in Soakville are gentle souls who love farm work and peaceful pastimes, while their Steamville counterparts are fiery spirits, preferring digging and competition.
Q2: (Raises hand) I want to know how the unique soundscape on Serenity Island was created!
Music Team:
When you think of baths, you think of bubbles. When you think of bubbles, you think of a unique bouncy kind of sound—"boing!" The music of Serenity Island was born by blending unique samples like this with the musical style of Stoneville!
We used instruments like the tambourine (from beautiful Xinjiang), tabla (from the Middle East), and handpan (a novel instrument), which sound distinct from Stoneville's style and give the impression of water, bubbles, and sand. Apart from that, we also added sounds to represent "bathing" into the mix!
For example, we used the rubbing sound of a foaming net to simulate that of a maraca; we sampled the sound of water droplets to make the melody sound more moist; we also used the sound of knocking on a tub and bucket as percussion. But that's not all! Serenity Island is like a multi-flavored hot pot (delicious!) of water baths, sand baths, and mines. For the hotter areas, we used the sound of shakers made with real sand as well as the sound of sand being thrown and hitting a drum. We also used the sound of pickaxes to simulate the sound of bells. These elements came together to create Serenity Island's lively ambiance!
Q3: The new story on the island is filled with heartwarming moments and quirky characters. What was the inspiration and intention behind them?
Serenity Island's story unfolds during Bubble Season. These transient wonders—simultaneously magnificent and delicate —became our emotional compass. We crafted a narrative that sparkles with beautiful purity upfront, but reveals subtle melancholic undertones when pondered upon. Also, taking into consideration Serenity Island's terrain, Boss, and the rustic nature of the local Pieceys, we decided on a story about home.
For every character, home transcends physical spaces, instead unfolding as sensory anchors—a lingering fragrance, an echoing melody, a luminous vista. Take Fuzzball—born from a pilling sweater reminiscent of childhood garments. Like those hand-knitted relics from elders, now outgrown yet too cherished to discard, its frayed threads cling to memories that outlive their original purpose. Our attachment to "home" are often epitomized in a sweater like this. And so, we infused elements of home, family, and longing into every character. To High-Flying Hannah, home is the sun and rain outside the window. To Hoohoo, home is mother's comforting words. To Macy, home is the harvest wind... We believe that everyone carries cherished memories of home and longs for its familiar sights when far away. With this in mind, we've woven our own understanding of home into every chapter. We hope players discover moments that resonate deeply as they play, finding echoes of their own stories within ours.
As for the characters, well... Compared to human characters, Pieceys are much more similar to each other in terms of appearance, so to make them more distinct from each other and memorable, we focused on their names and mannerisms. Like the Forgotten who've lost portions of fabric and memory, we gave Serenity Island's Pieceys names missing prefixes—linguistic echoes of their fractured histories that still retain glimmers of their distinct personalities. Consider Terra's evolution: she emerged from wheat-stained gloves, initially named Wheaty Terra. Though we cherished the prefix, it was painstakingly excised—leaving Terra, a name now distilled to its essence yet still echoing amber fields in its simplicity. Stately Stan and Flashy Frank originated as twin pockets on a farmer's jacket—the left steadfastly housing work tools, the right bursting with playful curiosities for children. Though their names once bore textile-inspired prefixes, we ultimately prioritized titles mirroring their spirited identities over their sartorial roots.
In terms of mannerisms, the Pieceys of Serenity Island also differ from those in the Abandoned District. They tend to refer to each other using words like "rag" and opt for fabric-related expressions in their idiosyncratic speech. Of course, this is also closely tied to their bathing culture. After all, "scrubbing rag" sounds a lot more relatable than "scrubbing Piecey," haha. We hope these carefully crafted details breathe life into Serenity Island, making every corner feel authentically alive. Thank you for uncovering and cherishing them!
Q4: What was the inspiration behind Nikki's lovely old home?
Writing Team:
The Thuddy Squash Cabin served as Nikki's first home in Miraland—the ultimate gesture of Piecey hospitality. We wanted this special shelter to become one of Nikki's warmest memories during her journey in Miraland, so we created a message book at "Miss Nikki's Old Home" where local Pieceys can share their gratitude.
Through her journey across Serenity Island, Nikki dispels gloom and warms Piecey hearts—deeds met with open arms by the locals who honor her efforts through heartfelt tributes. Each message left by the Pieceys at her cabin becomes a testament to the profound bond between Nikki and the world she's helped nurture. These glowing sentiments illuminate paths to future adventures like street lamps, guiding Nikki toward new Miraland stories waiting to unfold.
Q5: Wow, Serenity Island has so many novel places and plants! Could you tell me how this world came into being? I'm especially curious about the pink foam bunny at the bath area. How did you come up with that?
Art Team:
When designing the bath area and its atmosphere, we hoped to create something that could immerse players in Serenity Island's bathing culture. So, how do we do that? How do we create attention-grabbing scenes with visual elements while keeping them in line with the lore of the Pieceys? With this creative direction in mind, we iterated on many design concepts.
During our initial brainstorming sessions, the team conceived vibrant concepts featuring hanging ornaments, festive banners, and floating balloons. However, feasibility testing exposed three core limitations of traditional decor: (I) inadequate visual magnetism, (II) dissonance with environmental aesthetics, and (III) minimal potential for dynamic player engagement.
So we started with a whole new plan. Using "cool summer" as the anchor of the overall vibe, we shifted our focus to using foam as the major visual motif and designed a huge foam area in the bathhouse. Foam is a major part of bathing and, naturally, makes for a great vessel for bathing culture. Using voluminous bubbles, we crafted scenes brimming with depth and dynamism, aiming to evoke the textural richness and softness of real-life foam, inviting stylists to immerse in its tactile familiarity.
That's the theory. On to practice! We began drawing concept art and experimenting with materials at the same time. We layered "moldable memory points" atop our foamy foundation, realizing foam alone wasn't enough to captivate—playful motifs were key to sparking that extra magic! What if we molded the foam into cute shapes, like how you'd make a snowman? So we did. And the pink foamy Blushbunny was born!
Q6: The runway show is so fashionable and fun! How did you come up with the concept for this?
Game Design Team:
The Swish & Stitch Soiree is actually a pretty experimental game mode. It was born as an attempt to inject multiplayer elements into a single-player-focused open world.
Our foundational vision cast Miraland as a realm warped by external forces, its fabric twisting into interdimensional "knots" that bind disparate planes of existence. These cosmic junctures naturally evolved into meeting grounds where Nikki's multiversal iterations intersect and interact. The Grand Patch Stage on Serenity Island was our first attempt at implementing this idea. When planning, we had a few major goals in mind from which we would expand the design. First of all, we aimed to craft a multiplayer stage where gameplay mechanics would naturally spark interaction. Beyond that, we rooted the stage in the open world's cultural fabric, ensuring it felt like an organic part of the environment. Finally, we pushed for innovation—novel gameplay and seamless ties to existing systems—to keep stylists captivated.
After narrowing our focus, we brainstormed ideas ranging from theaters and water parks to spas, but ultimately landed on a runway where hosting fashion shows became the core gameplay. We envisioned this as a seamless fit for our game's fashion-centric DNA—a space where stylists could truly unleash their styling flair. Also, we hoped to give new stylists who play solo a pure, fun experience.
That's why, with just a few moves, stylists can showcase their creations on stage—where every outfit takes center stage, backed by our art team's meticulous camerawork and lighting. Beyond the spotlight, we wove in interactive touches like bubble machines—stage staples for ambiance. With them, stylists can sprinkle dreamlike magic into the show through swirling, luminous bubbles. Of course, we also prepared a viewing area for our more introverted stylists who prefer to immerse themselves in the show and take in the dazzling beauty.
After finalizing the concepts for the gameplay flow and player interactions, we began white boxing the gameplay space to confirm a series of practical parameters like the size of the room required to hold our target number of stylists, the area of each individual scene as well as their relative position, the length of the runway, the route stylists would take to enter and exit, the visual experience, and the duration of each fashion show.
After that, it was time for the tense production process. Developing this brand new gameplay module, the team encountered many unforeseen challenges. Though we had to shelve some brilliant ideas along the way, we're confident the lessons learned will serve as fertile ground—nourishing future innovations until they blossom.
Q7: The Pieceys on Serenity Island seem to be connected to those in Stonewoods. Is that an Easter egg? Could you tell us more about it?
Writing Team:
The Pieceys on Serenity Island are in fact from the Abandoned District in Stonewoods. We specifically added some cross-region Easter Eggs when designing them!
For example, Macy used to be a pair of cargo pants worn by the greatest mason, who built the huge windmill of Windrider Mill that still spins today and brings the hope of great harvests to many Pieceys.
Then there's Murmur, whose former owner was a member of the Rogues in the Abandoned District. Murmur was born from an accessory that the leader of the Rogues gifted to a wandering girl, who lived in a time of chaos. Her early life was shaped by chaos and solitude, hardening her into someone guarded and resilient—until the Rogues, a band of traders on the borders, took her in. With them, she found her first hugs, her first gifts, and a family. That warmth kindled a fierce resolve to protect them, a wish so powerful it seeped into the accessory she cherished... and Murmur was born. Murmur is a tenacious Piecey. Even if no one understands her, she's determined to hold on to her memory and her whistle. Fortunately, she meets Nikki and is able to confide in her, which helps Murmur overcome her fears and make the first step on her search. Beyond themes of home and safeguarding loved ones, we hope Murmur's courage to act boldly and embrace her true self lights a path for those navigating uncertainty.
Granny Bubbles is the great-great-great-great-grandmother of Kaleb, a Piecey who works as a wheat farmer at the Golden Fields in the Abandoned District in Stonewoods. In fact, it was Granny Bubbles who named the farm "Golden Fields." Bootsie is a good friend of Kaleb's. Bootsie was born from the hat of a newsboy and loves gathering stories and making them into songs, then singing them to Kaleb, who's never set foot outside of the Golden Fields. High-Flying Hannah came from a household where the wife was friends with the owner of Ms. Wrench, a Heart-Keeper of the Stonedew Flora at Choo-Choo Station. Ms. Wrench was born from gloves that once held a wrench borrowed from High-Flying Hannah's old home.
Also, Marshall and the three Puppy Pieceys correspond to Prosperville's old sheriff and the guardian pup, for whom a statue was erected in Stoneville. The guardian pup's descendant, Jolly, is a Bowler that often wanders near the statue. The descendants of the villagers who were saved by the sheriff took Jolly in, and they hope he can live a peaceful and happy life now that the village no longer needs protection. The legend of the sheriff and the guardian pup lives on through generations, much like Marshall and the Puppy Pieceys. At the Stellar Fishing Ground, Twinkle's storybook tells of the pup's heroism—how it guided villagers to safety, all narrated through the eyes of children who lovingly nicknamed it "Puppy Hero."
Through these design choices, we aim to give Miraland an organic vitality—a world that feels alive, pulsing with vibrant rhythms. No Piecey exists by its lonesome. Together, they live on this land, remembering the old wishes for great harvests and imagining a bountiful future. Every achievement Nikki attains in Miraland directly influences the Pieceys' daily existence while broadening their horizons toward a brighter future.
We also hope that all of Nikki's efforts can leave a mark that brings about meaningful changes. These small yet concrete changes are proof of Nikki's journey through Miraland.
Q8: Speaking of Marshall and the three Puppy Pieceys, I find their bond really touching. The music for this part also carries a lot of emotional weight. Could you tell us more about how it was composed?
Music Team:
Marshall's tale as a silent guardian resonated deeply with us from the script's first read. The poignant motif of an "unreachable homeland" lingered in our minds, sparking discussions that ultimately led us to weave the melody of Wandering in Stonewoods into a "melody of home"—threading it through ambient soundscapes, narrative scores, and climactic boss themes. With this, we hope to express Marshall's pining for home and the determination to protect it through music.
In the narrative track "If I Could Summon the Rainbow" from Marshall's diary, we wove in a callback to Stonewoods' theme—"Wandering in Stonewoods"—to amplify his unquenchable longing for and unwavering attachment to his hometown. The boss battle's score progresses through dynamic phases. It opens with a buoyant melody that embodies playful "puppy" motifs and the rigor of "training." As the battle intensifies, the music shifts into fierce, gale-like intensity, intertwining the haunting Stonewoods' theme with fragments of Stoneville's score. This nostalgic refrain echoes Marshall's fragmented memories of home—a distant call cutting through the storm, urging him to remember. As the boss teeters on defeat, the music crescendos into an epic major-key declaration of Stoneville's score. This soaring arrangement—woven from the town's signature melody—mirrors Marshall's unyielding resolve to safeguard his home, reframing Nikki and Marshall's struggle not as mere combat, but as a fight for redemption.
Back in the final sprint toward the 1.0 launch, the team poured relentless effort into elevating the open world's musical tapestry. Every hour spent refining the scores was driven by a singular goal: to let melodies breathe life into the story. Now, 5 updates later, we've revisited Stoneville's tale—recasting its iconic themes with cinematic grandeur. It really feels like we've come full circle.
(PS: Honestly, when composing the music, I treated everything as a professional and didn't see it as more than a storytelling device and a piece of the puzzle... but when I tested the full package and fought the puppy bosses, the pet owner in me couldn't help but shed tears. How did that happen??(ಥ﹏ಥ))
