BODY: Double Fine Productions, the studio behind beloved titles like Psychonauts and Brütal Legend, has officially launched its latest creation — and it's unlike anything you'd expect. Kiln is a 4v4 online multiplayer battle game built entirely around the art of pottery.
Released today by Xbox Game Studios, Kiln tasks players with crafting ceramic armor on a potter's wheel, donning their handmade creations, and charging into battle to extinguish the flames of the opposing team's kiln. It's competitive ceramics taken to its most absurd and delightful extreme.
The core loop blends crafting and combat in a way that feels distinctly Double Fine. Players shape their armor at the wheel before each round, and the quality and design of what they create directly affects their protection and abilities in the fight. The goal is straightforward — put out the enemy team's kiln fire — but the chaos of four-on-four battles wearing fragile pottery gear ensures that matches are anything but predictable. Each shattered plate of armor is a reminder that your craftsmanship is only as good as your ability to dodge.
The game is available now, though specific platform details beyond Xbox and PC have not yet been confirmed. Double Fine's signature humor and visual style are on full display, with the studio leaning hard into the absurdity of turning one of Japan's most meditative traditional arts into a competitive brawler.
The insider take
There's a certain irony in a Western studio turning tōgei (陶芸, pottery) — one of Japan's most revered and contemplative crafts — into a slapstick team brawler, and Japanese gaming communities are already having fun with it. The reaction on social media here has been a mix of genuine amusement and curiosity, with many noting that Double Fine clearly did their homework on kiln aesthetics and ceramic glazing techniques. For a country where pottery masters hold Living National Treasure status, seeing ceramic armor shatter in multiplayer combat is either sacrilege or the funniest thing this week — and most seem to be landing on the latter.
Originally reported by 4Gamer.net − 最新記事 (Japanese).