It isn’t every day we get to celebrate a game that not only celebrates areas local to CGMagazine, but is also inspired by a local event. Capy Castaway is a charming indie game created by Big Blue Sky Games, a Toronto-based studio, and inspired by a 2016 Toronto Zoo Capybara jailbreak. The game features the cutest animations and a heartwarming story, and after years of hard work, is finally releasing on Steam.
Before its release, CGM was able to chat with several people involved with Capy Castaway between the developer Kitten Cup Studio and Publisher Big Blue Sky Games: Producer Len Predko, Creative Director Saffron Aurora, Lead Programmer Ashley Kamenska, Community & Marketing Manager Bee Zelda, and Community Development Manager at Big Blue Sky Games Caitlan Martinez. Between them, we learned about all the Toronto Easter eggs, inspiration, and the heart that went into Capy Castaway.
It isn’t often that a video game makes it all the way to CTV News! How has the response to Capy Castaway felt so far across events, previews, major news, etc?
Len Predko: It’s been a really positive experience! My favourite was someone making a comment that they never thought they’d wishlist a game because of CP24 (our local 24-hour traffic and local story channel). Capy inspires a lot of silliness, and I think it’s easy to feel that whenever it gets coverage.
Saffron Aurora: It’s been exciting, and we feel incredibly supported by everyone’s kind words. I’ve personally never been on the news before, so it’s been a very new and thrilling experience, getting to talk passionately about this game we’ve been working on for three years and people sharing their excitement with us.
Ashley Kamenska: It feels surreal and exciting when people tell me they’ve heard of it from word of mouth or elsewhere on the internet, and the response so far has been incredibly positive! I’m always giddy when people resonate with the playful attitude we put into so many parts of Capy!
For those who don’t already know, could you tell us a bit about the inspiration behind Capy Castaway?
Bee Zelda: Capy Castaway was inspired by a mix of Toronto history, local legends, and things that just spark joy for us. One early influence was an illustration Saffron made of a capybara swimming around floating yuzu fruit. When we began imagining our next game, we kept returning to that warm, cozy vibe of the capybara.
The game also draws from the famous escape of Bonnie and Clyde, two capybaras who spent weeks roaming Toronto from High Park Zoo in 2016. From there, we created a whimsical island filled with lost animals, familiar landmarks, and pieces of Toronto from different eras. Games like A Short Hike and Untitled Goose Game also inspired its blend of gentle exploration, playful interactions, and heartfelt storytelling about friendship, found family, and discovering what “home” can mean.
I’m never really sure how to capture explaining how folks were enamoured with Bonnie and Clyde during the summer of 2016. If there’s something Toronto loves, it’s an escaped animal! There’s something hopeful and carefree we seem to find in it, and that longing for figuring it out is part of the inspiration for Capy. Toronto has a complicated relationship with authenticity and being itself as a city that is caught between being a depiction of other cities, rapid growth, amalgamation tension, and I think a lot of people latch on to rooting for an underdog because of that.
“Capy Castaway was inspired by a mix of Toronto history, local legends, and things that just spark joy for us.”
Len Predko: Capy themselves is a reflection of that hopefulness and desire to break away from assumption and expectation placed on them by family. On the other end of that, there’s Corvi’s feeling of wanting to belong to a detriment of those around them if they can’t learn to self-reflect and accept that their feeling cannot eclipse others. Those are both deeply Toronto feelings to me.
Saffron Aurora: I think my colleagues summarized some of the core inspirations pretty well! On a deeper level, I think Scott Pilgrim and The Vinyl Cafe are also inspirations for me, not necessarily as source material, but as examples of Torontonian identity and Canadiana in media– having these be a big part of my childhood led to a strong desire to create something that encapsulated these very personal themes and niche, local references.
How does a zoo jailbreak translate into a game 10 years later? What has changed since that initial idea?
Len Predko: A lot of it has stayed the same, really! I recently downloaded the original build we’d done for a prototype, and it’s really interesting to see what has changed and what stayed the same. I think we only scrapped one mechanic, and it wasn’t really fitting in; mainly we couldn’t find enough fun ways to use it.
Saffron Aurora: Since we brought our lead writer Kaelan Doyle-Myerscough on, there’s been a lot more heart-wrenching folded into the story, and various perspectives. It’s been fun creating our own fictionalized narrative around this event with our own worldbuilding, characters, and their relationships.
We have heard so much about the game based on its story origins. What can you tell us about the gameplay itself in Capy Castaway?
Bee Zelda: Capy Castaway is a cozy narrative adventure that can be played solo or in two-player co-op. You’ll play as both Capy and Corvi solo or control one character in co-op to explore a whimsical island, help its lost residents, and solve light puzzles and relationships using their different abilities.
Capy can sniff out treasures and dig them up, swim, squeak and interact with all kinds of items through the world. Capy can use a shovel to build sandcastles, sample different foods, play musical instruments, and more that can be discovered along the way. While Corvi will be there making notes in their handy journal, flying around picking up useful items and lifting Capy to bring them to new areas.
Collect and stack items as hats on Capy, squeak and caw at the world, and make choices that shape your relationship with each other and the animals that will lead to different endings.
Ashley Kamenska: To add to what Bee said, there are a number of stories to find and problems to solve around the world. But not everything is about solving problems and accomplishing objectives. We filled the world up with frivolous things you can do and discover that we thought would be fun.
So much of the game to me is about play and discovery for their own sake. And we’ve put a lot of effort into accommodating the different things you could do and ways you could resolve things. Trying to have a “yes, and” or a “yes, but” attitude to what you can do where possible rather than outright saying “no”.
Why the choice to make Capy Castaway playable as single or co-op? Does the gameplay vary much between the two?
Bee Zelda: We wanted Capy Castaway to feel welcoming whether you’re playing alone or sharing the adventure with someone else. At its heart, the game is about Capy and Corvi learning to work together, so co-op felt like a natural way to bring that friendship into the gameplay.
The core experience stays the same in both modes. In co-op, each player controls one character and combines their abilities to explore and solve puzzles. When playing solo, you can smoothly control both Capy and Corvi yourself. Co-op adds more communication and playful chaos, while solo play lets you approach the game at your own pace. But neither mode misses out on the full story or experience.
Ashley Kamenska: To add to what Bee already said, it felt natural for a game where you control two characters who are figuring out how to work together. We designed the game to be accessible by default so it’s equally viable to play solo or with a friend, and for players of all levels of experience. You play through the same story, but your attitude/experience with it might be different in co-op.
Sometimes both Capy and Corvi have something to say in a conversation, and whichever player goes first picks the direction things go! Corvi can give hints and has things to say and reflects on your choices in the story. I notice in co-op folks are more so bantering and playing with each other, while solo players engage with Corvi as a character more. A lot of the aspects of the game are optional, so you’re gonna see the side of it you choose to explore.
The Canadian gaming space is booming, not only with games being created in Canada/Toronto, but also with titles like yours that feature Toronto as a whole. Do you have any favourite Toronto tidbits in Capy Castaway you can share?
Len Predko: This is one that is probably one of the less obvious ones, but the Rainbow Tunnel is a real tunnel that is visible on the Don Valley Parkway going north to the 401. I remember when I was a kid, if we were driving back home from downtown, we’d pass it, and my sisters and I would all point it out. It was done by B.C Johnson, in memory of a friend who died in an accident on the highway.
It’s gone back and forth from being maintained and repainted and graffitied over and covered by the city, and he keeps repainting it, now with support from Mural Routes and others. 2026 is the 54th birthday of the mural, and I hope it’s able to be maintained forever. Whenever I’ve talked about it with someone who knows what tunnel I’m referring to, there’s this shared melancholic hominess to the feeling we share about it, an act of love maintained and revisited despite it all.
Saffron Aurora: There are lots of little references peppered throughout the game. Some of my favourites include the bike pole, the old CLRV streetcar, the Cabbagetown houses, and the Ontario Place flume boat.
My dad would take me to Ontario Place almost every weekend in the summer when I would go to stay with him, and we would ride the flume ride. Then, when I moved in with him in Cabbagetown for high school, I was biking everywhere all the time. When I wasn’t biking, I remember taking the 506 to cross the city and meet up with friends–so all of these are personal and nostalgic Toronto references for me.
Your website says “Kitten Cup is a small Toronto-based indie studio making cozy games from the heart.” What does that mean to you, and how does Capy Castaway fit into that category?
Len Predko: There’s so much of ourselves in the game, from the places folks love and care about to things we want to see more of in games. A big part of being part of a small team is having agency in advocating for things you want from the final game, and Capy Castaway would not be the same game without those choices and passions.
And just for fun, what is your favourite thing about Capy Castaway so far? Whether it’s an Easter egg, character, design feature, etc?
Bee Zelda: The worms and their secrets.
Len Predko: I loved making the lil guys font, and I am really excited to see folks read the silly notes I’ve left for them around the game! Or to see anyone write stuff out in it.
Ashley Kamenska: I’ve had a ton of fun making the procedural animations on Capy, the way their little legs step and their but wiggles! It’s been really sweet hearing people say it’s fun to just walk around. Capy’s nose animates based on things they can sniff out nearby, inspired by that gif of a borzoi turning its nose when people scritch its snout. There’s also a couple old-school “cheat codes” to find and, much like Mario 64, every copy of Capy Castaway is personalized.
Saffron Aurora: I really like the simple pleasure of being able to actually eat things in game. That, and playing on the swings.
Caitlan Martinez: I love the inherent queerness of the game, and how much it celebrates found family.
Is there anything else you want people to know before Capy Castaway releases on August 6th?
Ashley Kamenska: We’ll have two bundles available on Steam at launch: the Deluxe Bundle, which includes the base game, art book, and soundtrack, and the Supporter Bundle, which is just the art book and soundtrack. The official soundtrack is done by Mark Sparling (who is also known for his work on fellow Toronto indie game A Short Hike), and the art book is done by our Creative Director Saffron Aurora, who also did most of the concept art and key art for the game.
We don’t plan to stop working on this game on release. We still have a lot of details and tidbits we plan to add, and we can’t wait to share that with all of you!
Capy Castaway releases on August 6th on Steam.
