New Biome: Prehistoric Chaos (Featuring… Aliens?)

We wanted to build a totally different world for Trackastrophe. We already had a mushroom world and an underwater world, but we really wanted something more exotic: weird plants, unexpected colors, and a completely different mood.

At first, we fully went overboard with a full-on alien planet… but we couldn’t land on the perfect color palette, so we toned it down a bit (and kept it on planet Earth, lol). That’s when the idea of a prehistoric biome came naturally! Exotic plants, volcanoes, big “lost world” vibes… we were so hyped.

Characters: Cavemen… and Researchers From Space

Since the biome was taking shape, choosing characters was pretty straightforward: prehistoric characters for a prehistoric biome.

Except the alien idea was still living rent-free in our heads, so we decided to add aliens anyway, as characters inside the biome. Like little researchers coming to study the planet and its weird lifeforms. We thought the interactions between prehistoric locals and awkward space nerds could be really funny. Do you think they’d become friends?

I had a blast designing the characters for this biome. I was truly in the flow and so many designs came to life. In the end, we chose two characters (we couldn’t add more because of budget). My favorite is the pigtailed woman on the lower page, hehe. What’s yours?

Plants & Assets: The Biggest Biome So Far

The plants were also a joy to draw. I loved their curves and the way they “move” on the page, very wiggly and very alive.

The prehistoric biome actually contains the most assets out of all our biomes so far. It was a real challenge to balance the colors across all those elements, but I think we managed to make it feel rich without becoming a visual mess.

Mechanics… (Help)

Now, about the mechanics… I’m going to keep speaking as the concept artist here: I understand approximately 0% of what’s happening in this biome. I genuinely thought, “Wow… my game designer is insane.” But I’ll try to explain them anyway. Wish me luck.

The Portals

Portals come in pairs, and you can enter them from any direction. When the train goes into a portal, it teleports to the other one and continues moving in the same direction as before.

They’re kind of like the tunnels… except they demand a little more brain power. (Okay, sometimes a lot more.)

The Cloners

…and this is where my brain leaves the chat.

What do you mean two trains?? One wasn’t already enough?!

Basically: the train enters a cloner and gets duplicated. Now you have two trains, and you need to guide them both into a second cloner to merge them back into one train and finish the level.

Was that simple enough? Maybe. Will it feel simple when you play it? …You’ll have to try it for yourself.

Concept artist & Social media manager Lara