Little Nook is not just a publishing label. It exists because our penchant for storytelling and worldbuilding couldn’t help but break out of the games themselves.
Little Nook is itself a destination - one that’s never static, but evolves along with players and games and grows with both to become a place to get lost in, to foster new ideas, to build community and most importantly, to discover great games.
Little Nook is a natural extension of the design philosophy that built our studio. We take the same passion for storytelling and worldbuilding that we display in our games and extends that design philosophy to the publishing label itself.
We want the engagement that our Players feel while playing our games to extend to the way that they interact with the brand. Why shouldn’t this space we’ve created for our players be just as immersive, interesting and satisfying as any of our titles?
Little Nook is the first ever publishing label where game design mechanics are built into its very heart. When you visit Little Nook, it’s not just a portal to other worlds - it’s an ever-evolving world of its own.
Why are we doing this?
In 2014, four students formed Hyper Luminal Games. In the years since we’ve swelled to over 60 full time staff, shipped 50+ games, secured long-term international clients, and are currently developing two new original games. We’ve established ourselves as confident, capable, and talented developers within the Scottish and wider UK games industry.
We’ve experienced our fair share of frustrations with Publishers when trying to bring our own original titles to market.
From delays, to design changes, to large scale portfolio pivots, we have had our ambitions hampered by factors outwith our control.
As a result the studio has reflected on our skills and ambition, and have concluded that we can use our years of experience and expansive skillset to bring not only our own games to market but to support other developers in achieving the same thing.
Our values
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Regular updates and short lines of communication with prospective third parties stops them feeling in the dark and unable to make confident decisions for themselves. Developers should not be chasing us - we should be chasing them.
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As developers ourselves we can offer invaluable feedback to third parties as to how to improve their game or avoid common pitfalls. What we must never do is chase the latest market trend and have developers designing new features into their game that do not improve the core experience.
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While we should use our experience to try and optimise the spend on a particular third party product, we should never cut costs to the detriment of the game or the development studio building it. If we cannot see a reasonable way to financially support the developer then their game is not for us.
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Little Nook will focus on a small number of highly targeted game releases that fit with our portfolio direction. We will always allow for ample breathing room between releases, including our own, to give every game the greatest chance of success. If we need to squeeze a game in to make it work then that game is not a good fit.
To make sure that we operate differently from othe Publishers, we have set out a number of key values that the label must abide by.
Product range
Little Nook has a clear market, in terms of maturity and intended audience. The diagram below ranges in maturity from least (left) to most (right).
Little Nook’s portfolio is comfortably in the middle, illustrated by the dotted line.
What makes us different
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Games are creative, innovative, emotional experiences. So why are modern publishing labels boring, tired, and devoid of any imagination? Little Nook sits itself apart from its contemporaries, with its visual, narrative driven, world-building space that focuses on community, stories, characters, and events to create a richer brand experience for our Players.
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We have an exceptional team of Designers, Programmers, Artists, QA Testers, Producers, and Studio Managers. We’ve seen first-hand how other publishers will come to the table with little more than cash and an outsourcing partner. As developers ourselves, we know the pain points that indie devs feel, we know the support that they need, and we know how to personally deliver that support for them.
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Our community of gamers lies at the heart of Little Nook. They are not simply our customers; they are active Players in the growth of the platform. Little Nook is the first ever gamified publishing label where game design mechanics are built into the presentation of the label; where the community works together to progress the world of Little Nook through a number of touch points.
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Other publishers suffer from confusing and contradictory portfolios; where light-hearted adventure games sit next to gritty, blood-soaked first person shooters. Little Nook’s focus on a very small number of high quality consistent titles will set it apart and provide our community with a reliable source for the games that they want.
Game pillars
We’ll use these Pillars to measure the suitability of a prospective game. How many pillars a game must hit in order to be suitable isn’t set in stone, but ultimately these pillars help guide our decision making.
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We want a gaming experience that has something meaningful to say. At the heart of our games lies an emotion, a theme, and our game mechanics are used to express that theme. If we don’t have a them, then we don’t have a game.
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We want to invite Players into visually striking worlds that deliver a sense of wonder. Our games are driven by strong aesthetic direction and a keen sense of artistic style. Players should be absorbed by our worlds; encouraged to discover what’s around the next corner.
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Our games are built with inclusivity at their heart. Catering to Players from a wide range of backgrounds and abilities, we integrate inclusive design practices from the first stage of development. Our stories are universal, so our Players should be too.
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We love games that take an established trope and flip it on its head. Genre mash-ups, surprising mechanics, and subversive narratives; anything that sparks amazement and bewilderment in equal measure! Fresh ideas find their home with us.
