Dev Diary #2: The IRL Inspiration for Creatures Like Us

In the Real World

Creatures Like Us has come a long way since it was conceived. In fact, it wasn't even thought of as a game about squatting at first! Instead, the concept came about from a desire to make a game exploring interpersonal relationships in queer communal living, in structures like housing co-ops - with potential to have real-world impacts. This was a strong idea but it was only after learning about squatting in depth that the idea of Creatures Like Us started to really take shape. Since the early concepts we have grown as a team, with a wide and varied mixture of experience in both professional game development and lived experience of squatting contributing to Creatures Like Us.

The UK has a number of squats operating at any one time. There are many empty buildings sitting unused across the country. One such squat was situated in Stroud, South Gloucestershire at the time Creatures Like Us was being conceived, operated by the collective SISTER (Stroud in Internationalist Solidarity, Together for Earth Repairs). The squat successfully ran for several months in 2023 with workshops, film screenings, cafés and events with a notable number of media outlets reporting on it when the eviction took place. It served as a community hub at a time when it would otherwise have sat empty and unused. Engaging in political activism by reclamation of empty buildings as both a space to live in and serve communities is the essence of squatting, and hearing about this strongly influenced the game's design & mechanics.

Above: Banner outside the squat run by SISTER in 2023 with the words "RECLAIMED FOR COMMUNITY EDUCATION"

Other squats have also inspired the design of Creatures Like Us. A former squat in Bristol known as BASE (Base for Anarchy and Solidarity in Easton) has for many years been operated as a social centre after squatters successfully fought off eviction and managed to collectively buy the building back from the bank, which had previously repossessed it. Squatters can win!

Squat to Screen

The Bitter End - our first building in Creatures Like Us - takes inspiration from classic British public houses of various eras. While Britain lacks third-spaces where people can go and hang out for free at all times of day, for a long time pubs were and are used as an almost-third-space - meeting up with friends, not for free but for the low cost of a pint. Over the decades however many local pubs across the UK have closed permanently, often leaving the buildings to decay for years before they collapse or get knocked down for unaffordable luxury homes to be built in their place, causing a loss of social space in communities. Squatting offers an alternative: Reclaiming these decaying spaces, transforming them into true third-spaces that are free for the local community to use and to share, but also homes to live in.

Above: Screenshot of the interior of The Bitter End, our first level in Creatures Like Us

What's in a Name?

Being a small collective of developers here at Circle-A, we didn't want to go for EXTREME HYPER-REALISM SIM 9000 where everything is photorealistic. Instead we really wanted to take an artistic stylised approach reminiscent of anarchist zines and punk gig posters - colourful illustration but grounded in the rough edges of the fictional near-future UK setting. The central focus of Creatures Like Us is community, including your squat crew. Designing the characters as synanthropes was an intentional choice; urban-dwelling critters like pigeons & foxes are often considered a nuisance by British media, landlords, politicians and others. Likewise squatters are often seen as detrimental & destructive, when in reality squatters create homes, often with strong community support.

While this explains the Creatures part of Creatures Like Us, another notable inspiration is a Bristol organisation called People Like Us, who run queer community events across the city. The game expresses explicitly communal, queer experiences throughout. We made the title Creatures Like Us to reflect this, our human desire to form community and make a space to call home in spite of adversity - something we can all relate to in our need for adequate housing & strong social connections.

Building Consensus

We hope that Creatures Like Us is more than just a game to you, our players. We want it to be a way into discussion, organisation, campaigning & activism around squatting, community building, social justice and human rights. Not everyone is on the same page yet but with collective effort we can build better futures in care and collaboration!

Thanks for reading our second Dev Diary! We just managed to get it in before the end of September. Making games is hard and we wouldn't be able to do it without you - so thank you to everyone for your continuing support. Keep an eye out on our socials over the next week or two because we will have some big news coming... and follow our Kickstarter!