Early History

Our history with game development began with loose concepts and ideas from our teenage years. In 2014, these ideas from Jorge M. Carvalho and José Sanchez came together with the release of The Farming One under a different pen-name. As both focused on new areas of interest and pursued new studies, our original name was eventually discontinued, but its ideals and goals were kept close at bay.

In 2016, we decided to regroup for the release of Colossorama for Ludum Dare 36. As we continued to stack jam participations, developing several projects and experiments, we officially set sail with our Whales And Games branding with the release of Petty Puny Planet for Ludum Dare 38. This marked the first use of our symbolic emblem, our logo, and our full-of-life mascot and its recognizable top hat, Polite Whale.

Exploring New Depths

Over the years, and still as university students, we continued nurturing and expanding our dear Whales And Games brand, creating new games through game jams and academic projects, quickly expanding our repertoire.

Becoming a familiar name of the Ludum Dare community and the Portuguese games industry – being present in several local events – our ideas with Whales And Games kept growing. We brought together a team of transatlantic contributors, stayed strong during a New Zealand exchange program and maintained the brand as we became university graduates.

Since then, Whales And Games has released more than twelve games, built an active community through our Discord server, and continued expanding his cast of recognizable characters. New unique personalities such as Whalechan and Dapperfish charm artists worldwide, which frequently draw and portray our characters through fan-art.

Charting Unknown Shores

With the release of Whipped and Steamy • Cosplay Café in 2019 and its positive reception, our studio began discussing plans for growth and our desire to support the brand on the long-term, allowing us to continue developing the projects we loved. The next months proved to be a challenge through which we grew as creatives, as people, and as a brand.

The COVID-19 pandemic and it’s respective result in our inability to travel lead us to create Townseek, a relaxing exploration-trading game that quickly captivated players. We quickly understood the desire for a game all about travelling, and immediately set to work on it’s full version after it’s original Jam Version.

Our next voyages are still uncharted, though the years ahead led us to unknown shores, yet we eagerly set sail as we continue trailblazing this amazing sea-of-fun with Whales And Games!