Hey everyone!

I’m Gen, I work on all the 2D illustrations for JOIN US; menus, HUD, icons, scribbles, basically anything that involves pens, ink, or a paintbrush eventually ends up on my very chaotic and unorganized desk.

Where the magic happens.

JOIN US is actually the very first video game I’ve ever worked on. Before this, my world was entirely offline. I’ve always worked with real ink and paper, running my own small craft shop, spending weekends at fairs and comic-cons, selling prints and handmade goodies.

In a very digital era, I’ve been pretty stubborn about sticking to traditional tools. My use of technology barely goes beyond scanning my drawings so they can be printed. I don’t even own a graphic tablet. Ironically, that exact stubbornness paired with my total inability to work digitally, is precisely what Join Us was looking for.

Some of the UI images. Also the Wolf Haus logo that Gen drew.

From the start, the Wolf Haus team had a strong vision: a game that feels handcrafted, not factory-made. Something with a soul. A game where you can actually feel the presence of the people who worked on it. For that vision, it just made sense that the art itself should be made the same way : on real paper, with real brushes, real ink, and real mistakes.

Teachings, perks, buildings, and UI images all share a consistent style.

That mindset shaped the art style of JOIN US. It’s mostly black and gray ink, full of splatters, drips, and imperfect lines. Just like the world of the game, it’s never fully controlled, only guided, nudged, and influenced, while hoping everything doesn’t completely fall apart.

Some of the many weapons in the game.

Working outside the digital world comes with its own set of challenges. You can’t back up a piece of paper. There’s no “Save As.” Fixing something usually means adding more ink… or starting over completely because I didn’t know the exact gun model that exists in the game (sorry again, Joe…I didn’t know the difference between a Glock 34 and a 1911).

But working without a safety net also opens the door to things that would never happen in the digital world. There’s no Ctrl+Z, so every line counts. Accidents stay. Happy mistakes become part of the piece. And that unpredictability gives the art a texture and personality that feels alive, just like what we hope the world of JOIN US will be!

My name is Dooma Wendschuh and I used to write AAA games. Teams hundreds strong. Huge budgets. Endless days, blurring together: screenwriting software, narrative flow charts. That smell of the studio that I just can’t forget.   Even longer days with actors in the voiceover booth.  Thousands of lines, pick the best ones. Traveling - on planes… a lot. Microwave Indian food at the studio in Morocco.  Vodka at the studio in St. Petersburg. Shows. Autographs. Interviews. Conferences. Sleep?  Maybe when I retire.  

And then, finally, I did retire. On a remote island where seal hunting is kind of a big thing. They’re cute - like sea-puppies.  Bought a restaurant- best seal nachos you’ve ever had.  Walked my dog along stunning red cliffs in the snow. It was great. 

Then Abbott called. His friend Joe had made a game.  On nights and weekends, while working full time as a movie director and shooting commercials for big brands and managing the release of his most recent film, Joe taught himself Unreal – and built an open world sandbox action / survival game about starting and managing a doomsday cult.  My kind of guy. It was amazing – but there was still a lot to do to get it over the finish line.  And it needed a story. So here we are.

Bedford County is full of many mysteries.

This is unlike anything I’ve done before.  We’re 10 people on this team (+2 part time).  The whole game budget is less than the travel budget for games I’d worked on before.  The biggest difference: 20% of our team is dedicated to working on crafting the story. 

But this is not an easy story to write:

Firstly - while there are exceptions – I think it’s fair to say sandbox survival games are less known for storytelling.  It’s more about the story you create as the player (or if it’s co-op game, the story you create w/friends).  And JOIN US has that x1,000... but a traditional narrative is a tall order in this genre.

Something very bad happened at the Bedford Zoo. And the animals were not the losers.

Here’s the real challenge:  The 1st thing my first screenwriting professor taught me:  Every story needs a protagonist - the central character whose journey drives the action.  And JOIN US can’t have a protagonist.  When your character dies, they’re gone forever.  You come back as a different Follower (assuming you have Followers – but a cult of one is more of a study in poor life choices than an actual cult). 

Things are, uh, heating up during a nighttime raid.

And we stretched this permadeath concept even further:  You can switch to a different playable character whenever you like.  When you switch, you’re “teleported” to wherever that Follower is located.  If your outpost is being raided, open your roster, find a Follower at that outpost and you’re there.  Now imagine trying to write a story when the player can check out at any moment and re-appear at the other end of the map. 

There's a perfectly logical explanation for this. The apocalypse is not coming. Probably. Most likely not.

Oh, and in JOIN US, you have essentially unlimited freedom to choose your cult’s beliefs using “teachings” - & each choice has implications for your gameplay experience.  Imagine trying to write a story where you don’t know whether the cult embraces hedonism, or if they’re preppers, or worship aliens, or practice cannibalism.  And the story has to make sense no matter what the player chooses.

Can you see why these challenges got me to put down the seal nachos and un-retire?  I won’t tell you how well - or poorly - I think we addressed them.  That’s for you to decide! 

I just hope you have as much fun playing this game as we had writing it.