Devlog #1: First Look at Kichi + Playtest in 2 Weeks
Hello everyone! This is our first devlog, and also the first time we’re officially saying hi to you on Steam (^^ゞ Kichi: Focus Together has been in development for over half a year now.
Full notes
Full Kichi: Focus Together update
Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.
Repeated intro
Hello everyone!
What changed
0 fixes1 addition2 changes1 removal
Gameplay
Store
UI and audio
changedThe Overall UI Style When we first started designing the interface, we kept asking ourselves: if this wasn’t a cold, purely functional panel, but instead a place you’d actually want to open again and again, stay in, organize, and interact with, what would it look like? That’s why we drew inspiration from everyday study tools and stationery: journals, rulers, paper clips, stickers, sticky notes, planners, and other familiar little objects. We wanted the interface to feel less like “a bunch of features stacked together by a system” and more like a personal space that has been thoughtfully put together. Visually, we chose a light, semi-transparent design to make the whole space feel softer, lighter, and a little more alive.
changedA Sense of AI Companionship We’ve improved the AI companion generation and filtering experience, so it’s easier to find characters that actually match your preferences. You can use tags to look for AI companions that better fit your taste, and you can also customize their appearance and outfits yourself. We don’t want this to feel like just “character creation” or “another chat tool.” We want it to feel like a more engaging and personal process of getting along with someone >3< More than simple tag selection or appearance customization, what we care about is this: when you spend time choosing, styling, and interacting with an AI companion, will you gradually start to feel that they’re not just a tool, but someone with a real sense of presence? We’re also still continuously refining the realism of AI conversations, the rhythm of interaction, and how each character expresses themselves. This will be one of the areas we keep focusing on next!
addedA Sense of Real Presence One thing we’ve cared deeply about from the beginning is making AI companions feel like they don’t just chat with you, but actually live inside Kichi. This has always been an important direction for us, and we’ve invested a lot of effort into it ✊✊ What we want to build is not just an AI that replies to you. We want it to feel like a presence living in the Kichi space: something that can sense the environment, notice changes in the weather, be aware of adjustments in the room, and react to what the user is doing in the world. To make that feeling of “living in the same space together” feel real, we’ve done a lot of work on the underlying logic. Our AI companions can now already perceive parts of the in-world environment. Of course, this is still not fully where we want it to be, and we’re continuing to refine it. But what we hope to create is not just a chat interface, but a Kichi world where people can genuinely believe that the AIs are really living there 🤩
removedAlthough this version is still only a slice of a much bigger vision, and there are still many parts that need more work and refinement, to us it’s no longer just a version where “the features work.” It’s the first version that actually feels close to what we truly want Kichi to become.
Kichi: Focus Together changes
changedThe Overall UI Style When we first started designing the interface, we kept asking ourselves: if this wasn’t a cold, purely functional panel, but instead a place you’d actually want to open again and again, stay in, organize, and interact with, what would it look like? That’s why we drew inspiration from everyday study tools and stationery: journals, rulers, paper clips, stickers, sticky notes, planners, and other familiar little objects. We wanted the interface to feel less like “a bunch of features stacked together by a system” and more like a personal space that has been thoughtfully put together. Visually, we chose a light, semi-transparent design to make the whole space feel softer, lighter, and a little more alive.
changedA Sense of AI Companionship We’ve improved the AI companion generation and filtering experience, so it’s easier to find characters that actually match your preferences. You can use tags to look for AI companions that better fit your taste, and you can also customize their appearance and outfits yourself. We don’t want this to feel like just “character creation” or “another chat tool.” We want it to feel like a more engaging and personal process of getting along with someone >3< More than simple tag selection or appearance customization, what we care about is this: when you spend time choosing, styling, and interacting with an AI companion, will you gradually start to feel that they’re not just a tool, but someone with a real sense of presence? We’re also still continuously refining the realism of AI conversations, the rhythm of interaction, and how each character expresses themselves. This will be one of the areas we keep focusing on next!
addedA Sense of Real Presence One thing we’ve cared deeply about from the beginning is making AI companions feel like they don’t just chat with you, but actually live inside Kichi. This has always been an important direction for us, and we’ve invested a lot of effort into it ✊✊ What we want to build is not just an AI that replies to you. We want it to feel like a presence living in the Kichi space: something that can sense the environment, notice changes in the weather, be aware of adjustments in the room, and react to what the user is doing in the world. To make that feeling of “living in the same space together” feel real, we’ve done a lot of work on the underlying logic. Our AI companions can now already perceive parts of the in-world environment. Of course, this is still not fully where we want it to be, and we’re continuing to refine it. But what we hope to create is not just a chat interface, but a Kichi world where people can genuinely believe that the AIs are really living there 🤩
removedAlthough this version is still only a slice of a much bigger vision, and there are still many parts that need more work and refinement, to us it’s no longer just a version where “the features work.” It’s the first version that actually feels close to what we truly want Kichi to become.
This is our first devlog, and also the first time we’re officially saying hi to you on Steam (^^ゞ
Kichi: Focus Together has been in development for over half a year now. While it’s still far from complete and many parts are still being polished, we wanted to share it with you now because this version is finally starting to feel closer to what we originally set out to make 🥳✨
In this devlog, we’d like to talk about a few of the key directions we’re currently focusing on 👇
The Overall UI Style
When we first started designing the interface, we kept asking ourselves: if this wasn’t a cold, purely functional panel, but instead a place you’d actually want to open again and again, stay in, organize, and interact with, what would it look like?
That’s why we drew inspiration from everyday study tools and stationery: journals, rulers, paper clips, stickers, sticky notes, planners, and other familiar little objects. We wanted the interface to feel less like “a bunch of features stacked together by a system” and more like a personal space that has been thoughtfully put together.
Visually, we chose a light, semi-transparent design to make the whole space feel softer, lighter, and a little more alive.
A Sense of AI Companionship
We’ve improved the AI companion generation and filtering experience, so it’s easier to find characters that actually match your preferences.
You can use tags to look for AI companions that better fit your taste, and you can also customize their appearance and outfits yourself. We don’t want this to feel like just “character creation” or “another chat tool.” We want it to feel like a more engaging and personal process of getting along with someone >3<
More than simple tag selection or appearance customization, what we care about is this: when you spend time choosing, styling, and interacting with an AI companion, will you gradually start to feel that they’re not just a tool, but someone with a real sense of presence?
We’re also still continuously refining the realism of AI conversations, the rhythm of interaction, and how each character expresses themselves. This will be one of the areas we keep focusing on next!
A Sense of Real Presence
One thing we’ve cared deeply about from the beginning is making AI companions feel like they don’t just chat with you, but actually live inside Kichi. This has always been an important direction for us, and we’ve invested a lot of effort into it ✊✊
What we want to build is not just an AI that replies to you. We want it to feel like a presence living in the Kichi space: something that can sense the environment, notice changes in the weather, be aware of adjustments in the room, and react to what the user is doing in the world.
To make that feeling of “living in the same space together” feel real, we’ve done a lot of work on the underlying logic. Our AI companions can now already perceive parts of the in-world environment.
Of course, this is still not fully where we want it to be, and we’re continuing to refine it. But what we hope to create is not just a chat interface, but a Kichi world where people can genuinely believe that the AIs are really living there 🤩
Closing Thoughts
Although this version is still only a slice of a much bigger vision, and there are still many parts that need more work and refinement, to us it’s no longer just a version where “the features work.” It’s the first version that actually feels close to what we truly want Kichi to become.
We’d also like to share one more update with you: the Playtest for Kichi: Focus Together is expected to begin within the next two weeks. We’ll share more specific details about the timing and how to join as soon as we can!
If you’d like to follow us, wishlist the game, or share feedback once the Playtest begins, it would mean a lot to us 🙇
