Pre-Release has just been updated with lots of new things for you to test out! (Additional creature revamps, abilities, AI improvements, and more.) As always, we need your feedback! You can post all your thoughts and bugs on the Pre-Release feedback forum. Thank you!

* If you’re not familiar with Pre-Release, it’s the unstable developer branch we use for testing new stuff. More info here.

• New Abilities:
  
  • Dog Mouth = Lick Wounds (heal)
    
  • Dog block + dog mouth + dog eyes + dog ears (complete dog head) = Dog Barks (buffs and debuffs)
    
  • Crab Claw = Claw Punch
    
  • Mech dino legs + 50% mech dino blocks = Electric Shock
    
  • Cow body + cow legs + cow tail (cow butt!) = Cow Dung (fertilize your farm!)
    
  • Cow block + cow mouth + cow eyes + cow ears (complete cow head) = Graze (feeds on grass when it's hungry)
• New Creature Ability Previewer in progress: get more info on abilities, what they do, and what’s required to add them to your creature. You can see the previewer wherever abilities are listed in the game.

Electric Shock = 2 mech dino bodies + 2 mech dino limbs + your creature must be at least 50% mech dino parts overall! A tall order for a powerful ability.

• Revamped creature updates in progress!
  
  • New blocks: Cow, Elephant, Pig
    
  • Spider updated (Note: If you’ve previously built with the new spider legs, you’ll need to update your builds to reconnect the legs.)
    
  • Dog textures/shaders updated
    
  • Fur material changes for improved furriness
    
  • Cat leg notes: front legs animations are a bit wonky at the moment; fix is in progress!

• Environment Updates:
  
  • Geographical changes to the main Adventure Mode map (after the initial tutorial area) NOTE: This will cause saved Adventure games to get stuck loading! You’ll want to start a new Adventure by creating a new profile on the main menu.
    
  • Art pass on environment pieces of the Tropical Biome

A lovely day for pineapples.

• AI Improvements:
  
  • Creatures now jostle for position. They’ll no longer try to not attack straight on when engaged.
    
  • All abilities are now triggered more intelligently
    
  • Fetch ball mechanic fixed
• Game Launch Fixes:
  
  • Initial launch time reduced
    
  • Memory issues affecting launch have been resolved
• Gameplay Updates:
  
  • Crafting balance changes
    
  • Adventure Mode quest changes
    
  • New tools added: New recipes for these items added to the crafting system, plus all new art based on creature parts!

Not sure this chicken should be excited about something called the Chicken Claw Rake.

• Creature Builder Updates:
  
  • Undo/Redo added to Creature Builder (Use the UI buttons, or default hotkeys CTRL-Z & CTRL-Y)
    
  • Additional Creature Builder UX improvements
• Tended plants now display a status effect so you can tell if they’ve been fertilized/watered
  
• OSX/Linux builds have returned!
  
• Various bug fixes across all systems (Thank you to everyone reporting bugs! It really helps us out.)

We want to send a big thanks to IndieCade, who invited us back as part of their E3 Showcase this year! We had a ton of fun meeting everyone and got some great feedback from people who stopped by to play CHKN. (The Arena on Pre-Release was a big hit!)



Please post on our forums with your feedback! Or come join us on our CHKN discord share your thoughts, finding people to play with, or just to hang out. We’ve even got a whole channel dedicated to sharing creature creations so don’t forget to save yours to the Workshop so we can admire them.

- Team CHKN

https://store.steampowered.com/app/420930/CHKN/

First off, thank you to everyone who entered our latest design challenge. You guys really put the newly revamped Life Blocks to the test! To see all the amazing entries, check out this Workshop Collection and subscribe to spawn them in your own games from the Bestiary. (Note that you’ll need to be on Pre-Release to get all the revamped Life Blocks!) All of the creations were really creative and you may see some of these creatures in the wilds of CHKN soon!

Also, huge thanks to our guest judges, Jacemachine and squidking! They put a lot of effort into judging and discussing entries, thinking about how creatures look and fit into the world, and testing them in the game to see how they move and fight. Thanks, guys!

On to the winners!

Plural! Our guest judges were debating the merits of these two creatures in the end so why not choose both? ;)

The formidable Crabosapien by DINOBOY.



It’s only made of crab parts and it’s a bit deceptive at first glance, but our guest judges liked the cool humanoid shape and that it’s quite tough in a fight. It’s got great movement in battle and can throw a mean uppercut at you. “Which is also awesomely cool, unless you are the one that’s claw-uppercutted”, says squidking. This will make a great creature for players to run into while exploring the beachy areas of the island.

The majestic Chicat by deathasholds.



This build combines just two animals (cat and chicken) very well into a wonderful “gryphon-esque” creature. Jacemachine says “it looks great in action, and it’s just a handsome build overall.” We definitely agree. It’s Teleporting Vanish ability does make it interesting to fight, but really this creature is all about good looks. We’d love to run into this in the wild and tame it for our own. (And build larger, mama Chicats to guard her babies.)

We also wanted to get in on the judging action so here are some of our favorite creatures from all the amazing entries.

RoboSnakeapede is also by deathasholds but we couldn’t help calling it out. It’s got quite the wow factor, especially when you see it move around in the world.



Griminilim by Jelly Butter is just so creepily cute. Look at that face! The eyes really draw you in. (We love the name, too.)



There’s something about Duble clucker by Lordofd that feels very CHKNy. It’s super interesting and weird, and that makes it great.



MechaChkn by Dinoman9877 is definitely a mad scientist creation. We don’t want to meet that scientist (or see the creature made up of the other halves).



Salamander by Tycothepug is somehow cute despite using some of the creepiest parts. Watch it walk around in game and react to the world. You’ll want one as a pet!



Finally, there’s Hat Cat, also by Jelly Butter. We have no idea what this is but it’s amazing anyway.




Congrats to all the winners and honorable mentions, and thanks for all the amazing entries! Don’t forget that you can subscribe to them all using this handy list so you can spawn them in your own games.

Design Challenge #3 Submissions Collection

We also showed off some of these creations on our developer stream early today so check that out to see some of them in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pIL1UHrioc
And thanks again to the judges! Definitely check out Jacemachine’s YouTube Channel when you get the chance. His CHKN videos are really fun and he plays other survival and creative games, too! And if you’re looking for really interesting and fun creatures for your games, you’re guaranteed to find something you love in squidking’s Workshop Creations.

We hope you all had fun creating your entries using the revamped Life Blocks. (More are on the way!) It’s so much fun looking through all your creations and we’re constantly inspired by your creativity. We can’t wait to see what you build next!

- Team CHKN

https://store.steampowered.com/app/420930/CHKN/

Got a pig-snake-dog you want to share with the world? It's time for another Creature Design contest!

Test out our new revamped creatures on Pre-Release and submit your creations. (Here’s how to access Pre-Release!) Guest judges from the community will help us pick the winners and the winning creatures will inspire the new wild ecosystem coming soon in CHKN! (We’re currently working on adding some of the past winners to the new Adventure Mode so look out for those!)

You have until June 5th to enter. Winners will be revealed during our live stream next Friday (June 8).

PRE-RELEASE TROUBLESHOOTING NOTE: If you were having trouble getting the Pre-Release to load, we also have some bug fixes and a solution for you at the bottom of this post!

Now on to the contest...

• Play the Pre-Release build and create a creature using Life Blocks from any of the 7 newly revamped creatures:
  
  • Chicken
    
  • Cat
    
  • Crab
    
  • Mech Dino
    
  • Dog
    
  • Snake
    
  • Pig
• Is it cute or intentionally abominus? Is your creature dangerous or helpful or playful? Use the new Life Blocks in creative combinations to make your creature unique.
  
• We’re looking for anything from small creatures a new player might come across early in Adventure Mode to large boss creatures you might encounter later in the game. Think about where your creature might live in the CHKN world.
  
• Judges will rate your creatures on:
  
  • Looks
    
  • Personality
    
  • Movement & Functionality

A couple amazing creators from the CHKN community have agreed to join us as guest judges for this contest!

Squidking is a creature creating machine, with over 200 creatures shared in the Workshop. You should also check out his CHKN Creature Wiki if you want to know all about some of the creatures you can find out in the wild.


Now you know what a Goat riding a cat looks like.

Jacemachine plays a bunch of creative sandbox and survival games on his hilariously entertaining YouTube channel. He’s built plenty of creative creatures while surviving the wilds of CHKN. Check out his latest video hunting dragons...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jDYL_myyas
They’ll be seeing first hand how tough it is to judge the amazing creatures everyone submits to our contests. Thanks, guys!

1. Get on the Pre-Release build using these instructions.
   
2. Launch CHKN in Creative Mode.
   
3. Choose your Life Blocks from the newly revamped creatures and build your creature. Have fun and get creative!
   
4. Exit the build sphere and save your creation to the Workshop so we can see it. (Press [TAB] and go to the Bestiary tab of the journal. Find your creature under “My Creations”, click it, and check the “Sync to Steam Workshop” box.)
   
5. Make sure to give your creature a name and be sure to add “Creature Challenge #3” to the description so we can find it.
   
6. If you have multiple creature ideas, you can enter as many times as you like! Help us beat our record for the most number of entries!

That’s it! Make sure to save your creatures to the Workshop before Tuesday, June 5 @ 23:59:59 EDT to enter them into the contest! We’ll announce the winners and show off our favorite entries during our next live stream on Friday, June 8 @ 3:30 PM EST. Join us then to see if you’re the lucky winner!

And while you’re testing out the new Life Blocks, make sure to send us your feedback.

There were two major loading issues we’ve tracked down and fixed with the latest Pre-Release update. If you were having issues, here are the solutions:

• Game window doesn’t appear after pressing Play in Steam
  
  • This was a memory issue on our end and we’ve cleared it up. Download the updated build on Pre-Release and it should load properly (within 5 - 10 seconds) the next time you play.
• Loading screen stuck at “Loading Terrain”
  
  • This is an issue with some .dll files not loading properly because a runtime is missing. We’ve made a fix on our end so that Steam will now properly installs these files when installing the game. If you already have CHKN installed and Steam doesn’t update automatically for you, you can do one of these two things to force it:
    
    • Option 1: Go to Steam and uninstall CHKN. Then reinstall it. (If you want to make sure to save your games, back them up by copying them first! You can usually find them here: C:\Users\YOUR USERNAME\AppData\LocalLow\Katapult\CHKN)
      
    • Option 2: Download the runtime separately and install it on your computer. It’s called “Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015” and you can find it here.
  • Once you've done either of these, you should make it through the "Loading Terrain" screen and load into the Main Menu.

While you’re in the Pre-Release, be sure to check out the Arena. We want your feedback on the new abilities creatures can use in battle. Let us know what you think on the forums.



Early Access lets us build CHKN together with all of you so we really appreciate all your support with testing, bug reporting, and sharing your feedback. It helps a ton. Thank you!

Okay, time to get creating. We can’t wait to see your contest creatures!

- Team CHKN

https://store.steampowered.com/app/420930/CHKN/

Hi, everyone! It’s been a while! We’ve been in active development on quite a few new things for CHKN and it’s finally time to start getting player feedback! Please help us out by playing our work-in-progress build that’s now up on the Pre-Release branch. (GET INSTRUCTIONS HERE!) Thank you!!

There’s some info below on what’s new in this update and we’ll also be doing a livestream Friday, May 18 @ 3:30pm EST to show everything off! Come hang out with us!

• Arena Update & Bug Fixes: New abilities for you to try out in battle. Use the new arena glossary to see which Life Blocks you need to use in your creature to unlock each ability. Here are a few examples. Discover the rest by playing the Pre-Release!
  
  • Sample “ability” combos:
    
    • Crab legs + Crab shell blocks = Hunker Down (armored force field)
      
    • 2 Mech Dino eyes = Laser Eye
      
    • Chicken comb = Squawk Stun
      
    • Cat legs + Cat tail = Teleport Vanish
      
    • 50% Cat blocks = Nine Lives (automatic revive)

Armored Force Field and Laser Beam in action! Try different abilities out against each other. (You can also see the revamped Crab and Mech Dino in this shot!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRHJXjivQq8 Check out streamer BrettUltimus battling some Pokemon replica creatures in the Arena.


Use Wing Gust to blow your enemies away… if you can hit them.

• All New Adventure Mode (In Progress)
  
  • A new map, new quest system, and new progression! Inspect wild creatures and collect their abilities to help you and your creatures survive.
    
  • This is early in-progress work so there’s missing art, incomplete UI, temporary copy, and other unfinished things, but we’d love to hear what you think so far.

Use your new binoculars to inspect wild creatures from afar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBme42G9b_A See some of the abilities in action and how to discover them in Adventure Mode.

• Creature Builder Overhaul
  
  • New Life Block panel and filters, updated UI, some new stats added, plus a new Move Tool that lets you move whole chains of blocks around on your creature. (No more deleting a bunch of work and starting over.) Try it out and let us know what you think!

New Creature Builder! (UI in progress.)

• Creature Collections
  
  • Browse the new creature collection to see all types of creatures found in CHKN.
    
    • My Creations: Creatures you’ve built
      
    • Discovered/Bestiary: Creatures you’ve observed/discovered in Adventure Mode
      
    • Workshop: Creatures you’ve subscribed to in Steam Workshop, plus browse all creatures in Steam Workshop to see what’s new and subscribe to more
      
    • Favorites: Your favorite creatures from any of the previous lists

Things to note about this build:

• This version is Windows only for now. We’re working on getting the other platforms soon.
  
• Multiplayer isn’t available on Pre-Release at the moment because of the new Adventure Mode. It’ll be back in a future update.

TELL US YOUR FEEDBACK HERE! Our goal is to get these new & updated features out to everyone on the main live branch. We’ll be updating our progress on Pre-Release every couple weeks until it’s ready, so we need all your testing and feedback to help us get there! Please tell us things like:

• How’s the new Creature Builder?
  
  • Is it easier to build what you want?
    
  • How about moving around parts of your creatures?
    
  • Is there anything you’d change to make building better?

• Do you like the new creature abilities?
  
  • What new abilities were your favorite in the Arena?
    
  • Were there any you didn’t like and why?
    
  • Did you have fun experimenting?

• Do you like the new Adventure Mode we have in progress?
  
  • Are the new quests clear? Even though it’s in progress, did you understand what you were supposed to do?
    
  • Did you get through all the quests or did you get stuck anywhere?
    
  • Is there anything you’d add or change about it?

• Do you put pineapple on pizza or is that an abomination?
  
  • Okay this one isn’t really on topic but we’re curious anyway.

You can answer any of the questions above or leave any other feedback you have for us on the Pre-Release forums. Thank you!

For those of you curious about everything that’s been updated in this build, here are the full patch notes.

Creatures

• Creature Ability System overhauled
  
  • Now supports granting abilities based off of Life Block makeup and construction of your creature (type of blocks used, how many, where they’re placed on a creature, etc.)
    
  • Browse abilities in the new Abilities Glossary
    
  • Assign abilities to a creature’s Ability Bar. The creature AI will use those abilities, or use them yourself by taking direct control of the creature.
    
  • Added new abilities to the system! Discover them in Adventure Mode or test them on new creatures in the Arena.
    
    • Egg Missile
      
    • Teleport Vanish
      
    • Hunker Down
      
    • Laser Eye
      
    • Squawk Stun
      
    • Tail Strike
      
    • Feather Storm
      
    • Nine Lives
  
  
• Animal art updates! 5 animal types have been completely revamped with new art and blocks.
  
  • Chicken
    
  • Cat
    
  • Crab
    
  • Mech Dino
    
  • Dog
    
  • More coming in the next update! (Snake, Pig, Cow, and more)
  
  
• Creature Builder overhauled
  
  • New Move Tool added. Move whole sections of your creature or remove them completely.
    
  • New Life Block browser for faster, easier selection; plus filter by animal type
    
  • Updated stats section with some new stats added
    
  • Updated hotkeys for quick tool swapping (add, move, camera focus, and grid toggle)
    
  • Updated highlighting to more easily tell where blocks can be placed, which ones you’re selecting to move/delete, etc.
  
  
• New Creature Stat system implemented: new stats added, more stats made visible to players, and all stats tuned for consistency
  
  
• Creature XP system added so creatures can progress through Adventure Mode
  
  
• Creature Stress system added
  
  • New stat bar added to Bonded creatures representing Stress
    
  • Stress increases during combat or work
    
  • If it reaches 100%, the creature will become Stressed and other stats are penalized
    
  • Playing with creatures reduces their Stress so take good care of them!
  
  
• Animation System Improvements
  
  • Support for front and back legs
    
  • Support for arms
    
  • Improved performance
    
  • Better quality tracking
    
  • Improved consistency for striking
    
  • Basic creature swimming added

Features

• Adventure Mode is back!
  
  • Try out an early version of the new Adventure Mode in progress!
    
  • All new on-boarding to teach the ins and outs of CHKN.
    
  • New storyline: After being shipwrecked, you’ll need to craft items and build creatures to help you survive, then explore the island to discover wild creatures and learn their abilities for your own creatures, all while trying to save the world. No biggie.
    
  • New progression and balancing: new wild creatures, tweaks to stats and combat, crafting recipes changed, new XP and Lifeshaper upgrade system in progress, etc.
    
  • Note: Copy and quest steps aren’t final and much of the art is “greybox”
  
  
• Binoculars & Bestiary Added
  
  • Use the binoculars to observe wild creatures from afar to learn their stats, info, and abilities and log them in your Bestiary.
    
  • Once observed, those creature’s abilities are then unlocked for use in your own creatures.
  
  
• New Notification System added
  
  • Get notifications and some quick info about new items you pick up or things you discover in the world.
    
  • Get updates about completed or new objectives
  
  
• New Quest System Added
  
  • Track your objectives in Adventure Mode. On-boarding quests give way to story quests as you progress through the Adventure.
  
  
• New Journal added
  
  • Inventory menu expanded to a full Journal, with multiple tabs for new and existing functionality. Find everything you need in CHKN in this Journal.
    
  • Current status of each tab:
    
    • Character: Shows your armor, stats, and inventory (Currently using the old system while we finish this tab)
      
    • Crafting: Will house the new crafting menu. (Currently blank while we complete this system. Go to Character to craft for now!)
      
    • Bonded Creatures: Overhauled to provide more information about your bonded creatures.
      
    • Objectives: Keep track of things to do in the world. Only available in Adventure Mode. (a.k.a. quests!)
      
    • Bestiary/Creature Collection: Shows only your Bestiary in Adventure Mode. Otherwise, see the full Creature Collection including all creatures you’ve created, your favorites, your Workshop subscriptions, and browse the full Workshop.
      
    • Map: Find important things in the world. (Currently not finished. Use the binoculars (E) to set waypoints.)
      
    • Help: A list of topics if you need help while playing CHKN.
  
  
• Dialogue System added: The game can display messages to you as part of the story.

Items & Crafting

• Cooking Cleaver Added
  
  • Striking life blocks generates raw meat
    
  • Striking fruit generates seeds
• Crafting recipes changed for new Adventure Mode progression (new crafting menu and workbenches coming soon)

Fancy Art

• New environment art! New trees, updated bushes with new fruits, better grass, more foliage added to environments, etc.
  
• VFX added for new abilities
  
• Trail effects added on existing strike abilities
  
• Fur Shaders added to dog and cat
  
• Post Processing adjusted to be visually pleasing

Bugs & Optimization

• Added Texture Streaming for improved memory performance and improved visuals
  
• Added auto quality detection to optimize the settings based off of PC specs
  
• Various changes throughout the UI
  
• Foliage rendering system changed to remove floating bugs and improved visuals
  
• Rough support for Map added

We’d love to see what you guys can do with the revamped creature Life Blocks so we’ll be holding another Creature Creation Contest in the Workshop! Keep a look out for an announcement with the build rules and theme early next week.



We’ll be back on Twitch and YouTube this afternoon—Friday, May 18 @ 3:30pm EST—to show you all this new stuff in progress and answer any questions. Come hang out with us!

If you can’t make the stream, don’t forget you can also sign up for our Newsletter to keep up on the latest CHKN news.

We hope you like the new build! We’ve got more to do so it’s back to work for us. See you on the stream!

- Team CHKN

http://store.steampowered.com/app/420930/CHKN/

The all-new Arena Mode (CHKN Brawl) and Creature Collection feature are now on Pre-Release (instructions below). We need your feedback! Test creatures in a new ‘creature brawl’ and tell us your suggestions on the forums or over on our Discord server. We want to know what you think.


New Features

• New mode: Arena!
  
  • It’s time for a good ol’ fashioned creature brawl. Pick two teams to enter the arena and battle it out in a best-of series format. The last team standing wins.
    
  • Choose creatures from your own creations or find contenders on Steam Workshop.
    
  • Spectate the battle or control creatures directly during the fight.
    
  • Check out our developer stream video where we test out the Arena.
    
  • Note: Multiplayer and more creature abilities coming soon!

• Creature Collection Added
  
  • Browse, search, add, remove, duplicate, and subscribe to creatures all in one place.
    
  • Filter creatures by different stats or search using the text field.
    
  • Wild creatures you discover while exploring in Adventure Mode are also added to the Collection under “Discovered”. (NOTE: Currently, all wild creatures are revealed to all profiles while we upgrade Adventure Mode.)
    
  • Use the Collection to spawn creatures in Creative Mode or choose challengers in Arena Mode.

• New Profile-Based Save System
  
  • Save your progress, game worlds, and creatures to separate player profiles.
    
    • Creative Mode games are now saved per profile.
      
    • Adventure Mode games/progress are now linked to a profile. (NOTE: Adventure Mode is currently not available on pre-release.)
  • Note: In future, the profile system will track discovered wild creatures per profile and let you bring your profile’s bonded creatures and items with you into multiplayer games.
• Test drive of Procedurally Generated Terrain System
  
  • We are testing a new system to randomly generate terrains and more easily create new maps and areas for you to explore in various game modes.
    
  • Note: You’ll see new environments that are a work in progress.

Improvements

• Side stepping animations have been added to chicken legs
  
• Gameplay is now paused when loading so you won’t miss any action when playing single player
  
• New foliage system added for improved graphics and better performance
  
• Reduced fog. Go forth and SEE!
  
• Settings are now saved per branch so you can have different settings on Live and Pre-Release.

• Want to check out the Arena? Here’s how to get on Pre-Release. Your feedback and suggestions help us a lot. Tell us on the forums.
  
• Looking for a friend for multiplayer? Try our Discord server. (Thanks, SquidKing!)
  
• Watch on YouTube and Twitch
  
• Follow us on Twitter
  
• Sign up for our Newsletter

Back to work for us! Have a great weekend, everyone.

- Team CHKN

http://store.steampowered.com/app/420930/CHKN/

The all-new Arena Mode (CHKN Brawl) and Creature Collection feature are now on Pre-Release (instructions below). We need your feedback! Test creatures in a new ‘creature brawl’ and tell us your suggestions on the forums or over on our Discord server. We want to know what you think.


New Features

• New mode: Arena!
  
  • It’s time for a good ol’ fashioned creature brawl. Pick two teams to enter the arena and battle it out in a best-of series format. The last team standing wins.
    
  • Choose creatures from your own creations or find contenders on Steam Workshop.
    
  • Spectate the battle or control creatures directly during the fight.
    
  • Check out our developer stream video where we test out the Arena.
    
  • Note: Multiplayer and more creature abilities coming soon!

• Creature Collection Added
  
  • Browse, search, add, remove, duplicate, and subscribe to creatures all in one place.
    
  • Filter creatures by different stats or search using the text field.
    
  • Wild creatures you discover while exploring in Adventure Mode are also added to the Collection under “Discovered”. (NOTE: Currently, all wild creatures are revealed to all profiles while we upgrade Adventure Mode.)
    
  • Use the Collection to spawn creatures in Creative Mode or choose challengers in Arena Mode.

• New Profile-Based Save System
  
  • Save your progress, game worlds, and creatures to separate player profiles.
    
    • Creative Mode games are now saved per profile.
      
    • Adventure Mode games/progress are now linked to a profile. (NOTE: Adventure Mode is currently not available on pre-release.)
  • Note: In future, the profile system will track discovered wild creatures per profile and let you bring your profile’s bonded creatures and items with you into multiplayer games.
• Test drive of Procedurally Generated Terrain System
  
  • We are testing a new system to randomly generate terrains and more easily create new maps and areas for you to explore in various game modes.
    
  • Note: You’ll see new environments that are a work in progress.

Improvements

• Side stepping animations have been added to chicken legs
  
• Gameplay is now paused when loading so you won’t miss any action when playing single player
  
• New foliage system added for improved graphics and better performance
  
• Reduced fog. Go forth and SEE!
  
• Settings are now saved per branch so you can have different settings on Live and Pre-Release.

• Want to check out the Arena? Here’s how to get on Pre-Release. Your feedback and suggestions help us a lot. Tell us on the forums.
  
• Looking for a friend for multiplayer? Try our Discord server. (Thanks, SquidKing!)
  
• Watch on YouTube and Twitch
  
• Follow us on Twitter
  
• Sign up for our Newsletter

Back to work for us! Have a great weekend, everyone.

- Team CHKN

http://store.steampowered.com/app/420930/CHKN/

Creature Design Challenge #2 is complete and there were so many amazing wild creatures submitted. Thank you to everyone who entered. Seeing what you all create is really fun and gives us lots of ideas for how we can add and improve features in the future!

Here are our picks for the winners! If you want to judge for yourself, check out the rules and then let us know your votes in the comments below. You can view all the entries in this Workshop Collection and subscribe to bring them into your own worlds.

*drumroll* And the winner is Fluff Fee by Rowdyruff Muffin!



We love this creature for its unique combination and impressive silhouette. It moves really well in the world and it’s got a lot of personality in the face and “eyebrows”. Also, bonus points for chest hair. This would be an imposing creature pack to run into on an adventure in the wild.



Fluff Fee uses new chicken blocks that are only available on our in-progress version of the game, so be sure to install the Pre-Release build to see this creature in its full glory!

Congrats, Rowdyruff Muffin! Look for Fluff Fee out in the wild in a future CHKN release.

These two creatures had great potential to introduce ideas for players and are just plain interesting. Congrats to squidking and Bulborb87!

Beefy Invader by squidking uses limited parts to create a creature that takes advantage of the voxelization and chain animation systems, making sure it stays upright when it charges at you with its “spears”.



Spider Cat Cow by Bulborb87 is what we’d call “creepycute” and would hide well in the tall grass. You may see its head and think it’s harmless, only to turn and flee the minute you see it and all its pals scurrying right at you on their surprise spider legs.



And here are some great creatures we loved for a variety of different reasons!

Sir Dollinger by Rowdyruff Muffin is all personality packed into a few blocks and everyone laughed hysterically when we loaded it up. We immediately started making up stories for how it’d fit into wild. (Like you should find an abandoned hut in the middle of nowhere and THIS is inside and who knows what happens next…) Try it out in your own worlds!



Light LLama by The Stray is a nocturnal creature you might run into while exploring the darkness. Plus the placement of the lures on the head and the short, slower legs makes it really fun to watch as it roams around or flees from danger.



Little Cat by lisrinerrase is just so darn cute. It’s small but would be fun to stumble upon in a pack and figure out how you might want to deal with them. And its walk cycle is great. Load up a bunch of them and just watch them roam around. It’s mesmerizing.



Hairhog by squidking is one of those creatures that scares you when you first come across it, looking so intimidating from afar, but then you investigate and realise it’s adorable. We still wouldn’t underestimate it, though.



Blantosaur by Ultimate Oddball is strange in the best way. Running across one of these would be quite perplexing. We also love how the “nose” was built and moves in the game. It’s a really creative combo of three animal types.



Turtle Trunk by GreenRock technically used three animal types… but only if trees don’t count as animals. Which we guess they don’t, but we never mentioned that in the rules whoops! Totally our fault! In any case, this shows off how other blocks can be used to build fun, interesting creatures.



And Fresser by X=X..X=X used WAY too many animal types for the challenge, but still managed to fit in a lot of ability blocks that all function really well while still looking super cool into one creature. So we wanted to give it a shoutout here. Awesome work.



We showed off some of these creations and explained more of what we liked about them on our last developer stream so check that out to see some of them in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j3JdndHfm0&t=14m38s
And as previously mentioned, you can subscribe to all of the amazing entries from this handy list so you can load them up in your worlds:

Design Challenge #2 Submissions Collection

If you want to share your own creatures with us and your fellow CHKN players in the Workshop, just hold [E] while facing your finished creature and select “Save to Workshop". We’re always on the lookout for cool creations to add to the game!



We hope you all had fun creating your entries for this challenge. We had blast looking through them all we’re constantly inspired by your creations. We can’t wait to see what you build next!

- Team CHKN

http://store.steampowered.com/app/420930/CHKN/

Creature Design Challenge #2 is complete and there were so many amazing wild creatures submitted. Thank you to everyone who entered. Seeing what you all create is really fun and gives us lots of ideas for how we can add and improve features in the future!

Here are our picks for the winners! If you want to judge for yourself, check out the rules and then let us know your votes in the comments below. You can view all the entries in this Workshop Collection and subscribe to bring them into your own worlds.

*drumroll* And the winner is Fluff Fee by Rowdyruff Muffin!



We love this creature for its unique combination and impressive silhouette. It moves really well in the world and it’s got a lot of personality in the face and “eyebrows”. Also, bonus points for chest hair. This would be an imposing creature pack to run into on an adventure in the wild.



Fluff Fee uses new chicken blocks that are only available on our in-progress version of the game, so be sure to install the Pre-Release build to see this creature in its full glory!

Congrats, Rowdyruff Muffin! Look for Fluff Fee out in the wild in a future CHKN release.

These two creatures had great potential to introduce ideas for players and are just plain interesting. Congrats to squidking and Bulborb87!

Beefy Invader by squidking uses limited parts to create a creature that takes advantage of the voxelization and chain animation systems, making sure it stays upright when it charges at you with its “spears”.



Spider Cat Cow by Bulborb87 is what we’d call “creepycute” and would hide well in the tall grass. You may see its head and think it’s harmless, only to turn and flee the minute you see it and all its pals scurrying right at you on their surprise spider legs.



And here are some great creatures we loved for a variety of different reasons!

Sir Dollinger by Rowdyruff Muffin is all personality packed into a few blocks and everyone laughed hysterically when we loaded it up. We immediately started making up stories for how it’d fit into wild. (Like you should find an abandoned hut in the middle of nowhere and THIS is inside and who knows what happens next…) Try it out in your own worlds!



Light LLama by The Stray is a nocturnal creature you might run into while exploring the darkness. Plus the placement of the lures on the head and the short, slower legs makes it really fun to watch as it roams around or flees from danger.



Little Cat by lisrinerrase is just so darn cute. It’s small but would be fun to stumble upon in a pack and figure out how you might want to deal with them. And its walk cycle is great. Load up a bunch of them and just watch them roam around. It’s mesmerizing.



Hairhog by squidking is one of those creatures that scares you when you first come across it, looking so intimidating from afar, but then you investigate and realise it’s adorable. We still wouldn’t underestimate it, though.



Blantosaur by Ultimate Oddball is strange in the best way. Running across one of these would be quite perplexing. We also love how the “nose” was built and moves in the game. It’s a really creative combo of three animal types.



Turtle Trunk by GreenRock technically used three animal types… but only if trees don’t count as animals. Which we guess they don’t, but we never mentioned that in the rules whoops! Totally our fault! In any case, this shows off how other blocks can be used to build fun, interesting creatures.



And Fresser by X=X..X=X used WAY too many animal types for the challenge, but still managed to fit in a lot of ability blocks that all function really well while still looking super cool into one creature. So we wanted to give it a shoutout here. Awesome work.



We showed off some of these creations and explained more of what we liked about them on our last developer stream so check that out to see some of them in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j3JdndHfm0&t=14m38s
And as previously mentioned, you can subscribe to all of the amazing entries from this handy list so you can load them up in your worlds:

Design Challenge #2 Submissions Collection

If you want to share your own creatures with us and your fellow CHKN players in the Workshop, just hold [E] while facing your finished creature and select “Save to Workshop". We’re always on the lookout for cool creations to add to the game!



We hope you all had fun creating your entries for this challenge. We had blast looking through them all we’re constantly inspired by your creations. We can’t wait to see what you build next!

- Team CHKN

http://store.steampowered.com/app/420930/CHKN/

A wild Dubsheep under construction...

We want you to design the first set of new wild creatures for the world of CHKN. Submit your creature combos and we’ll choose which of your creations will roam wild in our next release!

Your challenge this time around is to create fun and interesting wild creatures made only using Life Blocks from up to 3 animal types. Players discover wild creatures while exploring so they can be friendly island inhabitants or aggressive foes.

We had so much fun on the last challenge seeing your boss designs that we’d never have come up with ourselves. We also learned a lot from how you built your creatures. We can’t wait to see what you all come up with this round!

1. Create a small or medium-sized wild creature you’d expect to run into while exploring early on in Adventure Mode.
   
   • Is it dangerous or cute? Stand-alone or roams in packs? It’s up to you!
2. Build your wild creature using only the Life Blocks from up to three animal types.
   
   • So, maybe a cat-dog? Or a plant-dino-sheep? Or how about a spider-cow? You can choose any three (or fewer) animals you like, then use any parts from those three animals in your creature.
3. We’ll be judging your creatures on:
   
   • Functionality
     
   • Personality
     
   • Looks

1. Launch CHKN in Creative Mode.
   
2. Choose your animal types and build your creature using their Life Blocks. Have fun and get creative!
   
3. Exit the build sphere and save your creation to the Workshop so we can see it. (Use the [Q] command on your creature and select “Save to Workshop”.)
   
4. Make sure to give your creature a name and be sure to add “Creature Challenge #2” to the title or description so we can find it.

That’s it! If you have multiple ideas, you can enter as many times as you like.

Save your creatures to the Workshop before Tuesday, January 16 @ 23:59:59 EST to enter them into the contest!

We’ll announce the winners and show off our favorite entries during our next live stream on Friday, January 19 @ 3:30 PM EST. Join us then to see if you’re the lucky winner.

If you want to check out what other people have made and get ideas for your own creatures, be sure to browse the Workshop! You can rate your favorites and subscribe to download them to your own worlds.

While you’re at it, check out this awesome CHKN Creature Wiki by squidking. There’s a rundown of some of the creatures you find while exploring the island, including screenshots, stats, and strategies.




We’ve got lots planned in 2018! First up is an “arena” mode that will roll out on Pre-Release next month. If you want to follow along with our progress, you can:

• Download our Pre-Release build so you’ll get the updates as soon as they’re available.
  
• Sign up for our newsletter to keep up to date with the latest news.
  
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we post our developer videos and playlists featuring creator videos. (Check out our Best of 2017 Playlist!)

Thanks for all your support, everyone! We’re in Early Access because we want to build CHKN together with all of you and you’ve been amazing. We look forward to all your feedback, ideas, videos, and creations in 2018!

- Team CHKN

http://store.steampowered.com/app/420930/CHKN/

A wild Dubsheep under construction...

We want you to design the first set of new wild creatures for the world of CHKN. Submit your creature combos and we’ll choose which of your creations will roam wild in our next release!

Your challenge this time around is to create fun and interesting wild creatures made only using Life Blocks from up to 3 animal types. Players discover wild creatures while exploring so they can be friendly island inhabitants or aggressive foes.

We had so much fun on the last challenge seeing your boss designs that we’d never have come up with ourselves. We also learned a lot from how you built your creatures. We can’t wait to see what you all come up with this round!

1. Create a small or medium-sized wild creature you’d expect to run into while exploring early on in Adventure Mode.
   
   • Is it dangerous or cute? Stand-alone or roams in packs? It’s up to you!
2. Build your wild creature using only the Life Blocks from up to three animal types.
   
   • So, maybe a cat-dog? Or a plant-dino-sheep? Or how about a spider-cow? You can choose any three (or fewer) animals you like, then use any parts from those three animals in your creature.
3. We’ll be judging your creatures on:
   
   • Functionality
     
   • Personality
     
   • Looks

1. Launch CHKN in Creative Mode.
   
2. Choose your animal types and build your creature using their Life Blocks. Have fun and get creative!
   
3. Exit the build sphere and save your creation to the Workshop so we can see it. (Use the [Q] command on your creature and select “Save to Workshop”.)
   
4. Make sure to give your creature a name and be sure to add “Creature Challenge #2” to the title or description so we can find it.

That’s it! If you have multiple ideas, you can enter as many times as you like.

Save your creatures to the Workshop before Tuesday, January 16 @ 23:59:59 EST to enter them into the contest!

We’ll announce the winners and show off our favorite entries during our next live stream on Friday, January 19 @ 3:30 PM EST. Join us then to see if you’re the lucky winner.

If you want to check out what other people have made and get ideas for your own creatures, be sure to browse the Workshop! You can rate your favorites and subscribe to download them to your own worlds.

While you’re at it, check out this awesome CHKN Creature Wiki by squidking. There’s a rundown of some of the creatures you find while exploring the island, including screenshots, stats, and strategies.




We’ve got lots planned in 2018! First up is an “arena” mode that will roll out on Pre-Release next month. If you want to follow along with our progress, you can:

• Download our Pre-Release build so you’ll get the updates as soon as they’re available.
  
• Sign up for our newsletter to keep up to date with the latest news.
  
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we post our developer videos and playlists featuring creator videos. (Check out our Best of 2017 Playlist!)

Thanks for all your support, everyone! We’re in Early Access because we want to build CHKN together with all of you and you’ve been amazing. We look forward to all your feedback, ideas, videos, and creations in 2018!

- Team CHKN

http://store.steampowered.com/app/420930/CHKN/