uvula is a tiny game studio as unique as its name. Guided by its co-founder and creative director, Keita Takahashi, uvula develops original games full of charm.
With so many games at our fingertips, it can often be difficult to decide what to play. For game designers, knowing that their project could potentially be lost in a sea of content might compel them to stand out from the crowd by making something truly unique—something special.
That’s been the defining factor in the works of Keita Takahashi, a game developer and artist based in Japan who is most notably recognized for creating the iconic Katamari series, which mixes innovative gameplay mechanics with a stunningly simplistic and lovable visual flare.
Now, developing with Unreal Engine 5 for the first time, Takahashi’s most recent title is to a T - an episodic adventure game all about everyday, ordinary actions as experienced through the lens of a teenager who is, believe it or not, stuck in a T-pose.
Featuring vibrant visuals, memorable characters, and gamified tasks such as drinking milk and getting dressed, to a T offers a more joyful experience than is typical in many of today’s titles, making it stand out on that level alone.
So, what inspired this rather unique project and how did Unreal Engine 5 enable the small team behind it to achieve its goals? We caught up with Takahashi to find out.
That’s been the defining factor in the works of Keita Takahashi, a game developer and artist based in Japan who is most notably recognized for creating the iconic Katamari series, which mixes innovative gameplay mechanics with a stunningly simplistic and lovable visual flare.
Now, developing with Unreal Engine 5 for the first time, Takahashi’s most recent title is to a T - an episodic adventure game all about everyday, ordinary actions as experienced through the lens of a teenager who is, believe it or not, stuck in a T-pose.
Featuring vibrant visuals, memorable characters, and gamified tasks such as drinking milk and getting dressed, to a T offers a more joyful experience than is typical in many of today’s titles, making it stand out on that level alone.
So, what inspired this rather unique project and how did Unreal Engine 5 enable the small team behind it to achieve its goals? We caught up with Takahashi to find out.
Thanks for taking the time to discuss this rather interesting project! Could you please describe what to a T is all about?
Keita Takahashi, designer and studio co-founder: It is all about a teenager who is being stuck in the T pose, and a cute dog.
What inspired you to design and develop to a T?
Takahashi: The world we live in is not a happy place for almost everyone, so I wanted to make something positive and joyful.
What does the T-pose represent in the game—is it a metaphor for something larger, or a commentary on some aspect of society?
Takahashi: Nothing in particular, but anything goes. I actually have a really good joke about this, but I think it might be controversial, so I'm not going to tell it.
How does the game’s narrative influence its core gameplay mechanics?
Takahashi: There are many games that encourage players to fight and take action, and I know that it is fun. Pressing a button to perform a complex action is fun to play and watch. It is satisfying. However, I wanted to simulate more everyday life actions in my game, such as using chopsticks, picking beans, and folding clothes. I don't know why I want to do that, but maybe it's because I'm a perverse person. The human body and movements are complex, so it's not difficult to simulate quick actions such as punching and jumping, but the action of holding a milk carton and pouring milk into a bowl requires more steps and is not as fun or satisfying as combat. However, I found that T-pose was the perfect idea to satisfy my desire. Doing everyday boring activities from a different perspective gave me fresh experiences and ideas.
Keita Takahashi, designer and studio co-founder: It is all about a teenager who is being stuck in the T pose, and a cute dog.
What inspired you to design and develop to a T?
Takahashi: The world we live in is not a happy place for almost everyone, so I wanted to make something positive and joyful.
What does the T-pose represent in the game—is it a metaphor for something larger, or a commentary on some aspect of society?
Takahashi: Nothing in particular, but anything goes. I actually have a really good joke about this, but I think it might be controversial, so I'm not going to tell it.
How does the game’s narrative influence its core gameplay mechanics?
Takahashi: There are many games that encourage players to fight and take action, and I know that it is fun. Pressing a button to perform a complex action is fun to play and watch. It is satisfying. However, I wanted to simulate more everyday life actions in my game, such as using chopsticks, picking beans, and folding clothes. I don't know why I want to do that, but maybe it's because I'm a perverse person. The human body and movements are complex, so it's not difficult to simulate quick actions such as punching and jumping, but the action of holding a milk carton and pouring milk into a bowl requires more steps and is not as fun or satisfying as combat. However, I found that T-pose was the perfect idea to satisfy my desire. Doing everyday boring activities from a different perspective gave me fresh experiences and ideas.
Image courtesy of Annapurna Interactive
The game’s story focuses on a character named Teen and unfolds in episodic fashion over the course of several days. Why was this approach important to the overall narrative?
Takahashi: This is a format inspired by anime, where the story begins with an opening song and ends with an ending song, and I wanted to emulate that format because I thought it was a perfect idea for telling the story of teenagers' daily lives.
to a T features a variety of minigames that help players experience life from the main character’s perspective. Could you please describe your team’s process for prototyping these in Unreal Engine and ultimately selecting which minigames to include?
Takahashi: Because we were a small team, we didn't have enough time to prototype each game. So I made storyboards and worked out the balance between the story and the interactive parts on paper and in my head. The storyboards were just basic rough ideas, mainly to give the team a direction. In fact, I had to make quite a few changes in the editor.
Takahashi: This is a format inspired by anime, where the story begins with an opening song and ends with an ending song, and I wanted to emulate that format because I thought it was a perfect idea for telling the story of teenagers' daily lives.
to a T features a variety of minigames that help players experience life from the main character’s perspective. Could you please describe your team’s process for prototyping these in Unreal Engine and ultimately selecting which minigames to include?
Takahashi: Because we were a small team, we didn't have enough time to prototype each game. So I made storyboards and worked out the balance between the story and the interactive parts on paper and in my head. The storyboards were just basic rough ideas, mainly to give the team a direction. In fact, I had to make quite a few changes in the editor.
Image courtesy of Annapurna Interactive
From finding beautiful vistas to meeting interesting characters, the game features a variety of exploration elements. Why was this important to include in the overall experience and how did UE help you bring the characters and environments to life?
Takahashi: Creating a charming seaside town for players to explore, filled with interesting characters to interact with, was a core part of to a T's design from very early on. Unreal Engine's integrated tools made the process of iterating on our ideas much faster, and allowed art, animation, design, audio and engineering to all contribute in different ways.
In regards to styling Teen, how did Unreal Engine help you deliver on the game’s numerous customization options?
Takahashi: We created a variety of clothing options for Teen, and leveraging Blueprints allowed artists to quickly prototype an early version of the customization system and help define the parameters by which more clothing was designed. Creating data tables that we could easily add new entries into allowed design more control over the available customization options and added a lot of variety to the game.
Why was Unreal Engine 5 the best fit for this project?
Takahashi: We initially started making to a T in Unreal Engine 4. At the time, we were looking to work in a game engine after spending five years working in Unity on Wattam. We chose UE4 because Ryan Mohler, Co-Founder and Animator, had familiarity with it from a previous project, and knew that we could at least start prototyping the game using Blueprints, and eventually access engine code directly if it was needed. We also knew that the game was going to involve a large amount of art and animation, and the tools in UE4 at the time were a better fit than anything other engines were offering out of the box. With the Sequence Editor, Skeletal Mesh Animation Systems, and more, we were able to get a controllable prototype made within the first couple of months with only three people. As Unreal Engine 5 came along, we were able to easily transition to it and make use of even more improved tools and workflows that allowed us to continue building the game.
How did receiving an Epic MegaGrant impact your development?
Takahashi: I honestly don't think we would have been able to complete to a T without the support of the Epic MegaGrant. We really appreciated your support.
Takahashi: Creating a charming seaside town for players to explore, filled with interesting characters to interact with, was a core part of to a T's design from very early on. Unreal Engine's integrated tools made the process of iterating on our ideas much faster, and allowed art, animation, design, audio and engineering to all contribute in different ways.
In regards to styling Teen, how did Unreal Engine help you deliver on the game’s numerous customization options?
Takahashi: We created a variety of clothing options for Teen, and leveraging Blueprints allowed artists to quickly prototype an early version of the customization system and help define the parameters by which more clothing was designed. Creating data tables that we could easily add new entries into allowed design more control over the available customization options and added a lot of variety to the game.
Why was Unreal Engine 5 the best fit for this project?
Takahashi: We initially started making to a T in Unreal Engine 4. At the time, we were looking to work in a game engine after spending five years working in Unity on Wattam. We chose UE4 because Ryan Mohler, Co-Founder and Animator, had familiarity with it from a previous project, and knew that we could at least start prototyping the game using Blueprints, and eventually access engine code directly if it was needed. We also knew that the game was going to involve a large amount of art and animation, and the tools in UE4 at the time were a better fit than anything other engines were offering out of the box. With the Sequence Editor, Skeletal Mesh Animation Systems, and more, we were able to get a controllable prototype made within the first couple of months with only three people. As Unreal Engine 5 came along, we were able to easily transition to it and make use of even more improved tools and workflows that allowed us to continue building the game.
How did receiving an Epic MegaGrant impact your development?
Takahashi: I honestly don't think we would have been able to complete to a T without the support of the Epic MegaGrant. We really appreciated your support.
Image courtesy of Annapurna Interactive
Have there been any specific UE5 features that have stood out to you during development?
Takahashi: UE5's Blueprint visual scripting, Animation Blueprints, and Level Streaming features were all a critical part of our development process.
The game features a very unique look. Was this established from the onset or did it come about over time?
Takahashi: We wanted to make to a T look like a cartoon, so we tried outlines and halftones. The outline didn't work well and also it was super expensive since we needed to draw assets twice to cover whole angles when we tried in UE4. So, we decided to drop the outline and focus on the halftone shader.
The game’s soundtrack seems to play an important role in complementing the visuals to achieve a unique narrative approach. Was this intentional from the beginning?
Takahashi: Yep
Takahashi: UE5's Blueprint visual scripting, Animation Blueprints, and Level Streaming features were all a critical part of our development process.
The game features a very unique look. Was this established from the onset or did it come about over time?
Takahashi: We wanted to make to a T look like a cartoon, so we tried outlines and halftones. The outline didn't work well and also it was super expensive since we needed to draw assets twice to cover whole angles when we tried in UE4. So, we decided to drop the outline and focus on the halftone shader.
The game’s soundtrack seems to play an important role in complementing the visuals to achieve a unique narrative approach. Was this intentional from the beginning?
Takahashi: Yep
Image courtesy of Annapurna Interactive
In terms of the feedback you’ve received so far, do you think the game resonates differently with younger audiences compared to adults?
Takahashi: We have not received much feedback from the younger generation so far, but I hope it reaches out to all people evenly.
What lessons have you learned over the course of developing to a T that you’ll take forward onto new projects?
Takahashi: We're still actively working on the game, with post launch updates and fixes, so we're not ready to look back and think about the last five years yet.
Thanks again for your time! Where can people go to learn more about to a T?
Takahashi: Check out uvula.jp
Takahashi: We have not received much feedback from the younger generation so far, but I hope it reaches out to all people evenly.
What lessons have you learned over the course of developing to a T that you’ll take forward onto new projects?
Takahashi: We're still actively working on the game, with post launch updates and fixes, so we're not ready to look back and think about the last five years yet.
Thanks again for your time! Where can people go to learn more about to a T?
Takahashi: Check out uvula.jp
How to install Unreal Engine
Download the launcher
Before you can install and run Unreal Editor, you’ll need to download and install the Epic Games launcher.
Install Epic Games launcher
Once downloaded and installed, open the launcher and create or log in to your Epic Games account.
Get support, or restart your Epic Games launcher download in Step 1.
Install Unreal Engine
Once logged in, navigate to the Unreal Engine tab and click the Install button to download the most recent version.
Watch how to install