Conversations With Clique: “Building Clonk’s Identity” (feat. BearHammer Games & Brandon Egolf)
Clonk is a chaotic VR sandbox where players can throw, jump, and laugh their way through wild obstacle courses. But behind the clay and comedy is a carefully crafted identity, one designed to capture attention, build community, and stand out in a crowded VR landscape.
For BearHammer Games, building this identity for Clonk would prove to be an unprecedented challenge for their small studio. Fortunately, they were not alone in this endeavor.
Picking up from our previous interview, Brandon Egolf, CEO and co-founder of Clique Games, joins our conversation with BearHammer Games as they discuss building the identity of Clonk, partnering with a publisher, and looking to the future.
Finding a Name
At Clique Games, part of our commitment to our publishing partners is providing insights and guidance that ultimately make their games more memorable for players. When a game has a catchy title that is easy to remember, fun to say, and evocative of an exciting experience, players are more eager to share it with their friends.
The story behind the name “Clonk” is a great example of this. Initially, the team had a much different name in mind. Studio director Brian Allen admits with a smile that they had first pitched the project as “Yeet Guys.”
“We were looking for something that was edgy and reminiscent of Fall Guys and Stumble Guys. We were thinking about the concept of yeeting people and yeeting yourself off the map.”
Brandon, however, had some concerns. “The word ‘yeet’ is a meme that's been around for quite a while, and I think we were all worried about whether or not that would date the game by the time it launched,” he explains. “It's the same thing as if, 5 years from now, you called it ‘Skibidi Guys.’ You kind of run into the same problem.”
With these considerations in mind, a new title was needed.
Brandon recalls the moment of inspiration and serendipity that led to the name Clonk.
“Clay is such a huge part of the experience, since you’re able to see the world through the eyes of this Play-Doh style adventure. But throwables are also a huge part of the experience. How do you combine those two?
Eventually I typed in all caps ‘CLONK’ and Brian and I both chuckled. We were like, ‘Wait, there's something there.’ It just clicked; short, punchy, and weird in the best way. It's a name players could yell at each other, meme, and remember long after putting the headset down. That’s when we knew: Clonk had arrived.”
Landing on a Logo
Final (current) version of Clonk logo.
Another critical component of a game’s identity is an eye-catching, well-designed logo. Providing a striking visual element that acts as the “face” of the game is what makes it stick in the players’ minds longer after they exit the game lobby.
For Brandon, the main goal for the Clonk logo was impressing upon players the appropriate “feel” for the game at first glance.
“Our first iteration of the logo had a hyper-vibrant pink and yellow palette with letters that were falling off into the distance as if they were being thrown. But after talking with some of our platform partners, we learned that they wanted to see a smoother gradient. More of a pastel kind of feel.”
Following this initial round of feedback, the first batches of marketing materials for Clonk had a variation of the logo featuring cotton candy-esque pink and blue colors with soft rounded letters. Notably, the design of the letter “O” showed it as a throwable object, nodding to one of the core gameplay aspects of Clonk.
Early iteration of Clonk logo. This design would be changed following further feedback and discussion.
But despite the improved direction, it felt too soft and round, and didn't quite embody the thrilling gameplay based around movement and throwing. Going back to the drawing board, Brandon and the team decided to align the next design more closely with the core gameplay of Clonk:
“With the final iteration, the number one thing we wanted was for every version of the logo to have some kind of appeal toward throwing.
For the first version, the letters were going off into the distance. The second version had the ‘O’ being a throwable. For the latest iteration, we actually put the head of the character into the logo itself as the logo mark and as the ‘O.’”
While Brandon still sees room for improvement on the current logo and the possibility of “a few tweaks to come” by the time the game launches, he’s confident that this version is what will stick around for a long time.
A Study in Clay
Customizable playable characters in Clonk.
By far the most prominent aspects of Clonk are the clay-like textures and aesthetics. This, along with the satisfying movement mechanics, are what make Clonk different from other VR titles out there. Highlighting the depth and care put into these visuals would elevate Clonk from a cookie-cutter multiplayer game to a sophisticated experience aimed at a more seasoned audience.
For Brandon, properly representing the “clay style” offered both a unique opportunity as well as a daunting design challenge, due to how few examples there were in existing games.
“When we settled on clay, there were maybe three examples in the last 30 years of modern major clay-styled games. And none of them in this genre are even close to having the movement mechanics of Clonk.”
But despite this, Brian hopes that their refreshing take on this rare design style can evoke the “spirit of goofiness” that he enjoyed through his years as a gamer:
“I grew up playing Clay Fighter on Super Nintendo. That was my first intro into ‘clay as video games’ and I fell in love with those characters. So I really hope that we can evoke that for this next generation of players, the idea that it's cool to see this clay style.”
Example of map area in Clonk.
While charming and pleasing to the eyes, these design choices weren’t just for nostalgia’s sake. Creative lead Connor Shine offers a deeper breakdown of how they used the the clay aesthetic to ensure things were visually readable for players:
“From a gameplay perspective, you want to be able to immediately see a character and be able to pick them out, and make sure you see them rather than the backgrounds and differentiate that. But then there's the difficulty of ‘How do I make a block color interesting to look at so it's not super dull?’
And so, we've got this base clay material that is on everything in the game and you see the little light reflections off it.”
Brian elaborates further, saying that the block colors allowed them to add visual indicators into the design.
“For example, anything yellow is climbable. This makes movement intuitive; players will instinctively know where they can go without needing explicit instructions. We got that idea from games like Mirror’s Edge, where important objects glow red or orange to help with parkour navigation.”
However, Connor and the team had to overcome the challenge of making the clay textures more vivid and less flat, as they appeared “off” under normal lighting. To accomplish this, they added half-tone shading to the textures. In doing so, they really refined what Connor calls the “brand language” for the visuals.
“I think that's made a huge difference to the character of the game overall and just how the levels look. The half-tone also lets every single block get individual shading, pull themselves apart, and feel like unique pieces.”
Putting players first is an approach we actively encourage and champion at Clique Games, and with these considerations the BearHammer team has implemented into both the visuals and gameplay, they emulate these values perfectly.
Connor nods to the intention of these choices in Clonk, calling it “a casual game at its core”:
“Even though it has depth, we don’t want to present it as some super hardcore experience. It’s a sandbox game, and it should feel friendly, approachable, and fun to just hang out in.”
Partnering With Clique Games
Partnering with Clique Games as a publisher allowed Clonk to evolve and develop further.
At Clique Games, we know indie development isn’t easy, especially in VR. That’s why we work closely with our partner studios to provide the funding, marketing, and platform expertise they need to bring bold ideas to life. Whether a developer needs just a little help up or more of a heavy lift, we cater our partnerships as a publisher to their specific needs in order to make their game as successful as possible.
Brian knows all too well about the struggles of running an indie studio, as the journey forward is rarely a smooth one.
“Indie development is like running a pirate ship. You're chasing treasure, hoping to find a friendly port, but sometimes disaster strikes.
For two years, we were constantly a month away from bankruptcy. It was stressful, but we kept finding ways to push forward.”
BearHammer’s story is one we’ve seen before: passionate developers with a brilliant concept who just need the right support to get their game in front of players. We’re proud to help navigate those challenges so the team can focus on what they do best: making games that players love.
Brian reflects on how BearHammer’s partnership with Clique Games came into bloom, calling it “perfect timing”:
“Brandon reached out to me right as we were negotiating with Meta for funding. We knew Clique Games had a deep history in VR with running arcades and publishing games, so we trusted their expertise.”
This was a big step for Brian and his small yet ambitious studio, as partnering with Clique Games meant allowing outside hands to take part in what has largely been their personal passion project.
However, from the very beginning, we have worked with BearHammer Games to ensure that our vision and goals aligned every step of the way. We also provided all the marketing support that Brian and the team could not do on their own.
“We’re not marketing experts,” Brian explains. “Developing a game is only half the battle; you still have to get people to play it. Clique Games’ knowledge of influencers, pricing strategies, and community engagement made a huge difference.”
Partnering with BearHammer Games felt natural, as Brandon saw the promise that Clonk has right away, as well as the game’s potential to fill in a gap for a specific player audience:
“What sets Clonk apart is that we're trying to do a lot of things that have not been done. And maybe the most difficult of them all is we're trying to maintain a fun and energetic theme without making it feel like Sesame Street. If you talk with anybody that's in the free-to-play community, the majority of them are fairly young, in their teens.
There's multiple Kirby and Yoshi-style games whose aesthetic is either in the cloth or some kind of knitted material like yarn. You can tell that those are not meant for a teenage audience; it's either you're an adult who wants a cozy game or you're a child. It's really not meant for the teens.
We are trying to build a super multiplayer social action-packed game with a theme that allows for the versatility we want without excluding the audience we know will be there.”
The depth of visuals and gameplay in Clonk offers an experience not just for adults and children, but for teens as well.
Lessons Learned
One of the leading philosophies we commit to as a publisher is to uplift the people behind the projects and push them to make the best versions of their games possible. Whether it’s providing new perspectives, challenging the “norms” they are used to, or supporting them as they take a few leaps of faith, we want to leave them better than when we found them.
Reflecting on their journey so far since partnering with us, Brian ruminates on the valuable lessons he and his team learned along the way.
“We realized that marketing is just as important as game development. Clique Games showed us how to properly budget for marketing, and how to build an audience early instead of just launching and hoping people find the game.”
Connor also acknowledges the value of getting feedback from a team outside of their own.
“As developers, we get tunnel vision. Clique Games helped us see the game from a player’s perspective.”
The one thing has not changed from the very start, however, is our shared dedication to making the best game possible. Brandon reaffirms this as he looks towards the eventual launch of Clonk:
“There's no amount of time we wouldn't spend to make sure this is as good as it can get before it goes out. That doesn't mean it won't have bugs and a Day One patch and a Day Two patch and other things because that is to be expected with live service. But the excitement and the joy that you see on the outside is what you'll feel on the inside, and we will work tirelessly to make sure that that's what happens.”
Hopes for the Future
Clonk’s road from wild idea to playable reality is far from over, but the future of BearHammer’s quirky VR obstacle course experience is already looking bright, and we at Clique Games are excited for players to experience what’s coming.
With every design choice rooted in creativity and every marketing decision shaped around what players want, Clonk is more than just a quirky VR obstacle course; it’s a carefully crafted world built to surprise, delight, and bring people together. If the passion behind it is any indication, Clonk is on track to be one of the most unforgettable VR releases of 2025.
When asked to sum up what players can expect to see and experience while playing Clonk, Brandon compares it to the over-the-top chaos of animated shows like Celebrity Death Match, nodding to an innate “goofiness that you're just not going to find anywhere else.”
Meanwhile, Connor envisions Clonk as “the ultimate sandbox,” complete with different tools that empower players to come up with creative ways to “be stupid and just have a blast.”
Lead UI programmer Sandy Fisher offers a more personal vision of how he hopes Clonk will resonate with players, recalling fond memories of playing games in his youth:
“I'm just reminiscent of playing Halo back when I was in primary and secondary school, playing in Forge World, playing Griffball, stuff like that. I hope the new generation gets to kind of experience that, but in Clonk essentially.”
Finally, Brian calls Clonk “a dream project” that encapsulates the ongoing story of their team and studio:
“We’ve had ups and downs, but we’re proud of where we are. We can’t wait for people to play, create, and get Clonk’ed.”
If you missed our first conversation with BearHammer Games discussing the birth of their studio and the birth of Clonk, check out our Part 1 blog post.