oxtailstudios

[oxtailstudios]

Help Residents of Tongva/Chumash Territory (Los Angeles) Recover After Wildfires

The ethos of our company is this; building a better world, one game at a time. Please join us in donating directly to and sharing local L.A. organizations and residents if you have the means - so much of the community of L.A. that has been affected are not wealthy, and so many people have lost quite literally everything.

If you are not located in L.A. or don’t have the means to donate, please reach out to Governor Newsom’s office and demand a rent freeze. The effects of these fires will be felt long term for residents and ensuring that they aren’t taken advantage of during this difficult time should be our priority.

We have a list of places to start here:

MALAN Fire & Wind Storm Resources

K Town For All

L.A. Mutual Aid

Rebuild Black Altadena

Lastly, the majority of our team is also located in L.A. If you are also able to donate to our GFM, we would be incredibly grateful:

Help Oxtail Studios keep the lights on and make indie games

Remember - we take care of each other!

[oxtailstudios]

Envisioning a better world, one game at a time.

WHO

Hello there! We're Oxtail Studios, a fledgling creative studio for a small group of writer friends whose dream is to create the dating sim RPG they've always wanted to see out in the world. The thing all of us at Oxtail have in common is a love of story-rich games, and we're currently working on Sugartop, a pixel RPG with vestiges of the farm life sim genre - a small town of wonderful NPCs (16 romances), adventure, and a lush, green backdrop full of mysteries and intrigue.

THE GAME

In Sugartop, you play as a financially struggling person in Los Angeles who one day gets what looks like a spam email with the headline, "MOVE TO SUGARTOP FOR FREE!!! (FREE RENT)" - too good to be true, right? But the circumstances are dire, your savings have shriveled to near nothing, and desperate, you experience a lapse in judgment, deciding that the antivirus on your laptop will have to do some heavy lifting as you open up the video attachment.

It's a scrappy ad trying to convince you to go live in this small town called Sugartop located on an island off of the coast of Southern California. Do you continue to live your life as is, in dire straits, or do you take the risk of investigating further?

WHY

Unfortunately, as many creatives tend to be today, we are struggling to make ends meet as underemployed and unemployed creatives who have to worry about bills month to month and have little to no savings to fall back on. We're dealing with the aftermaths of layoffs in our individual careers in an increasingly brutal job market, and we urgently need your help to keep the lights on at the studio.

If you want to play a hand in helping a group of queer Black and Brown creators give life to their creative visions and love narratively compelling video games with a lot of heart, please consider supporting us today.

WHAT

Although we would be overjoyed with making even $50 total, our goal is to be able to fund our overhead costs (studio rent, accounting fees, attorney fees, fair compensation for visual artists) for five years of operation to lessen the financial burden on us as we struggle to find jobs. Without jobs, we can't self-fund the project.

THANK YOU!

If you choose to support us today, thank you so much. We're incredibly grateful for your kindness!

Studio links: click here

The pixel art used for the campaign is "Sugartop" by Kathy Chow.

DISCLAIMER Note: We at Oxtail Studios are not providing any goods or services to donors on GoFundMe in exchange for donations. This means we will not be providing you any copies of Sugartop for your donation.

[oxtailstudios]

Hey Oxtail community,

This is Garnet, one of the brains in the studio, or if you prefer the formal title, Head Writer. If you're reading this, you're one of the folks who have watched us struggle through these past few months to start putting ourselves out there in an effort to create the dating/life sim and RPG of our dreams.

And I won't keep you long—thank you for believing in us enough to be here. Thank you for your support, whether you're on our socials or subscribed on Patreon. Every bit of support helps us work toward our goal of being able to keep the lights on for the studio.

2024 was a year of many disappointments and horrors. We've witnessed them collectively, weathered them in our individual lives. But those of us in the studio...we are still here, and we're so glad you are, too.

Here's to hoping that 2025 will be a good year for progress on Sugartop, for us as individual creators and as a studio, and for all of you. I hope 2025 will be a year full of opportunities, smiles, and laughter for you. And if those things are too hard or seemingly out of reach, then I hope it will be a year of easier survival for you in whatever ways possible.

We may be strangers, but we appreciate you sincerely. If you could hang in there for the journey and keep up with us, we'd be immensely grateful. We have so much to show you.

With warmth and respect, Garnet any/they

[oxtailstudios]

1-Word Q&A: What are the ROs (and Bear (and Ms. Abena)) bringing to the potluck?

Everyone is gathered together to celebrate community by bringing a dish to the party–will you be joining them for dinner?

Our 1 (ish) Word Q&A is now live on Patreon for free.

Sneak Peek of All ROs

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Patreon Information:

In November, Patreon will start charging an App Store fee of 30% on top of regular membership prices for new sign ups on iPhones. Creators do not see any of this money as it goes directly to Apple. PLEASE avoid spending the extra money—join via web/Android!

[oxtailstudios]

RO SPOTLIGHT - RHEA

can you...see me? haha! 🫣👻🍭🩵

Just kidding. Of course you can. Rhea’s just like any other town resident if you can get over the fact that she is very much dead—your local friendly ghost of the human variety, often seen floating through walls or fading out of visibility when she needs to make an exit.

You may think it’s unusual that someone in their afterlife has chosen to spend time among the living, but after four hundred something years, she’s gotten used to it.

Because see, if you can’t seem to pass on to the next phase of existence, the best solution after the first century is to relax and enjoy the simple things while you can. True to this life (unlife?) philosophy, Rhea nourishes her lost soul by balancing her time between honoring the dead as Sugartop’s funeral director-slash-mortician and brightening her home and closet with colorful items in stark contrast to her gray, translucent form.

After all this, you may wonder about her life before her passing. Well, as much as Rhea would love to share, she’s just as clueless as you are in that department. Maybe it’ll come to her someday, maybe it won’t. What she knows, though, is that you should say hey if you happen to pass her (or she happens to pass through you accidentally)!

Treat her kindly and don't rush her to speak when she's picking through her words. She’s looking for a cozy soul to call a friend or lover.

Notes:

Can be romanced by player characters who identify as women or feminine-of-center.

Sneak Peek of All ROs

[oxtailstudios]

Body Swap Transcript and Recap

The recent town hall meeting included a deceptively simple agenda: two townsfolks, namely Mayor Bear and Devon Rhee, have swapped bodies. 🔃

Town Hall: Body Swap is now out on Patreon!

Town Hall Recap

Town Hall Transcript

[oxtailstudios]

RO SPOTLIGHT - ANTHONY SMITH

he'll let you backseat game just this once 🎮

Love Hades (the game, not the god)? Hate Cats (the musical, not the animals)? Have strong opinions about…literally anything, but especially Interview with the Vampire or Dev Patel’s cheekbones? Look no further for a companion-in-arms than Anthony Smith (or Handsome Anthony if you’re nasty).

Our town’s first (and only) blacksmith, favorite (and only) streamer, and best (and only) Othello, when he’s not behind his very decked out streaming setup, happily sweating his ass off in the forge on main street, or spending an afternoon at the town’s movie theater, Anthony can be found playtesting homebrew spells for Giannis at the inn, talking shit in an incalculable number of group chats, or begging his mom to pay him a visit and pretty please make him some buchujeon? 🥹

A little naive, sure, but he just likes to see the best in people and have a good time. He’s a charmer, a sweetheart, and he loves meeting new people. Stop by his workshop to check out new tools, interesting sculptures, or even gorgeous jewelry. He may even let you take a peek at his next Sugartop Observer review 😉

(Just don’t be needlessly rude within earshot of him; he’s a Southern boy born and bred, and that’ll put you on his shit list forever!)

Notes:

Can be romanced by player characters who identify as men or masculine-of-center.

Sneak Peek of All ROs

[oxtailstudios]

1-Word Q&A | Sugartop is having a Friendsgiving potluck—what are the Sugartop singles bringing to celebrate? 👀😋🍲

Don't miss out on early access!

(List of ROs)

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Patreon Information:

In November, Patreon will start charging an App Store fee of 30% on top of regular membership prices for new sign ups on iPhones. Creators do not see any of this money as it goes directly to Apple. PLEASE avoid spending the extra money—join via web/Android!

[oxtailstudios]

RO SPOTLIGHT - MAX LIS

anyone want to treat a fox person to some chestnut tiramisu? 🥀💅🏻🎧✨🍷

Meet Max, your Sugartop fox person—heavy on the person—florist who takes her sweet, sweet time getting bouquets arranged for you. You may not really get on her good side immediately though, as she's often seen denying any allegations of having #feelings, but despite that, she has a soft spot for those around her (maybe don’t point it out though).

You may also see her admiring the town’s band with a drink in her hand on a relaxed Friday evening, contemplating her next writing project of which many still need their final touches. She prefers wine to beer, tiramisu over fruit cake, and the finer things in life.

Notes:

Can be romanced by all player characters.

Sneak Peek of All ROs

[oxtailstudios]

1-Word Q&A: What are the ROs of Sugartop going dressed as for Halloween?

All of our ROs had a lot of fun picking out their costumes—why don’t you join in on the fun and see what they came up with?

Our 1 (ish) Word Q&A is now live on Patreon for free.

Sneak Peek of All ROs

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Patreon Information:

In November, Patreon will start charging an App Store fee of 30% on top of regular membership prices for new sign ups on iPhones. Creators do not see any of this money as it goes directly to Apple. PLEASE avoid spending the extra money—join via web/Android!

[oxtailstudios]

RO SPOTLIGHT - MATIAS MONTES

get you a man who can do both 🌻👗👔👕✨

As your local tailor, cobbler, and seamstRESS, Matias knows how to look good for every occasion and isn't afraid to get bold with his style.

And a lot about him is loud. Colorful, dramatic, and vivid are all words people often use to describe him, especially with his outgoing personality. You'd probably hear his laughter over the others' from all the way across the inn, spot him spamming a group chat in all caps, and well, you get the drift.

It's easy to believe he's always been so free and unapologetically himself, but his willingness to show the world what truly makes him happy wasn't exactly there from the start.

Like anyone else, he's continuing to figure himself out, and he'd love a special someone to accompany him on this journey, be it a close friend or a new sweetheart. Will you swipe right?

Notes:

Can be romanced by all player characters.

Sneak Peek of All ROs

[oxtailstudios]

RO SPOTLIGHT - NICKIE WILLIAMS

it's puffball season. foraging date, anyone? 🍄‍🟫🍂🌿

Nickie may be young, but she's been at the town for longer than most of the other singles. In fact, she's a Sugartop girlie, born and raised, proudly serving as a steward of the land, master forager, and now a proud #businessowner #entrepreneur #manager of the Sugartop General Store.

Spot her in the store restocking prickly pear fruit, at the inn during open mic night, or on a walk through the forest up north—she might drop some tips on which invasives you can eat.

Become her friend or ask her out on a date (with flowers and a tasteful mixtape)—she's waiting for a special connection.

Notes:

Can be romanced by player characters who identify as women or feminine-of-center.

Sneak Peek of All ROs

[oxtailstudios]

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Patreon Information:

In November, Patreon will start charging an App Store fee of 30% on top of regular membership prices for new sign ups on iPhones. Creators do not see any of this money as it goes directly to Apple. PLEASE avoid spending the extra money—join via web/Android!

Guess how the Sugartop singles are dressing up for Halloween 👀👻🎃

Don't miss out on early access!

(List of ROs)

[oxtailstudios]

come get your golden retriever bf 🐶

Devon is a twenty-three year old grade S mess with a cheerful smile, something to prove, and way too many items in his calendar. Directionless after college graduation, he tries to outrun his existential crisis with uninspiring career development classes and spends the rest of his time mixing drinks for Sugartop residents at the inn in exchange for room and board. Befriend or romance him—he could really use the connection.

Can be romanced by player characters who identify as women or feminine-of-center.

[oxtailstudios]

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Patreon Information:

In November, Patreon will start charging an App Store fee of 30% on top of regular membership prices for new sign ups on iPhones. Creators do not see any of this money as it goes directly to Apple. PLEASE avoid spending the extra money—join via web/Android!

Who's interested in a game of 'where's wali?' 👀 @/kihu? 👀

[oxtailstudios]

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Patreon Information:

In November, Patreon will start charging an App Store fee of 30% on top of regular membership prices for new sign ups on iPhones. Creators do not see any of this money as it goes directly to Apple. PLEASE avoid spending the extra money—join via web/Android!

"A town hall meeting was held last week, at the old barn out yonder—you know the one if you’re reading this, obviously..."

The Glue Incident Transcript The Glue Incident Group Chat The Glue Incident Recap (FREE 👀👀👀)

‼️🫢‼️

(Join us on Patreon perhaps 👀)

[oxtailstudios]

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Patreon Information:

In November, Patreon will start charging an App Store fee of 30% on top of regular membership prices for new sign ups on iPhones. Creators do not see any of this money as it goes directly to Apple. PLEASE avoid spending the extra money—join via web/Android!

Hello y'all!!! Mama Abena here with a fun update! We got the ok to share details about our community and our lives on our little island. Thanks Mayor Bear! 🥳

If that interests you, please feel free to check us out here on patreon! Even if you can't join us over there right now, we're still sharing some cute little extras here and on our other socials so please stick around and follow us in all the places you would like to see us 😊

See you all soon!! - Love Mama Ab : )