One of the games teased for members of the press at Gamescom 2023 was Club Koala from Kunlun’s indie games studio, Play for Fun. This creative 3D Simulation game allows players to build their own island paradise. It will be available to play on mobile, PC, web and Discord later in 2023. If you are interested in signing up to the Club Koala Beta, simply go to the Club Koala website and click ‘Sign Up Now’.
Already Club Koala is sounding a lot like a new Animal Crossing with its emphasis on fun, creative, social play. It will be a game that provides safe welcoming virtual spaces for players to get creative and express themselves. It will also allow players to interact with NPCs and with other players online. So far, so similar. However, it soon became apparent that there was much more to this game.
Club Koala’s Unique NPCs
Part of what makes Club Koala stand out is its AI powered NPCs. These NPCs will respond to players and provide personalized experiences for them. They are also capable of learning from players and supporting them in whatever they want to do. This includes embarking on quests, exploring the world or checking in and having a chat about how their day’s going.
Players are able to type whatever they want to say to these AI characters or speak to them through a microphone. In turn, the characters use a large language model to generate responsive dialogue and behaviors. This technology will also be able to generate unique challenges and quest lines. This means that everyone’s experiences should be truly unique to them.
Incredible Scope for Creativity
Club Koala will have a great capacity for allowing boundless childlike creativity with its user generated content. Like Animal Crossing, players can customize their Home Island, build a community of NPCs and participate in activities that earn more design options.
There is also the Koala Editor, a user-friendly and intuitive system that supports anyone to realize their creative visions and share them with other players in game. This includes creating mini games that add an element of wacky Fall Guys action into the mix. Players can even use the game’s Wombat Editor to create games independent of Club Koala!
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- You can explore every part of your island paradise as long as you’re willing to get your feet wet!
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- Get those precious resources!
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- Koala will have a whole host of quirky NPCs to can interact with.
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- You’ll have a lot of tools at your disposal.
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- Having a good look at your ever improving island paradise.
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- You can even host your own music festival!
Creating a Safe Space for Players
There was also discussion of online safety when interacting with other players. Fang Han, CEO of Play for Fun Studio, was motivated to build a game that provided safe nurturing spaces for his daughter and children like her, as they find their way in the world. When I spoke with him on this topic he explained that vetting and matching users would be done by advanced AI moderators being checked by human staff for optimization. He explained keeping players safe and secure was a huge priority for them to allow their users to be free to express their creativity in a supportive environment.
Keep an eye out for more updates about Club Koala including release dates, reviews and tips in future articles right here at KeenGamer!
