Origin and Evolution of Amoebunnies
Sketched Into Existence
In 2011, Darcy was practicing her craft in her sketchbook when she drew the first of what she called an amoeba bunny. She shared this invention with Jaime who quickly used the portmaneau of amoebunnies. They both enjoyed the cuteness so much that they'd make repeated appearances in correspondence for a few months.
Filling in the Details
Later in 2011, Darcy and Jaime decided to work on a video game together. The original idea used the generic amoebunny with no personality. The mechanics of the game weren't working out, but they decided that focusing on the bunnies would be a good idea. Working off of the multiple sketches of bunnies falling from the sky, Jaime's wife Sandy proposed a game where bunnies would fall and merge together if they were the same color. While the first colored versions were palette-swapped versions of the same bunny, they soon created eight distinct characters who would become the basis for the Amoebunnies for years to come. They named them each based on a color name from a variety of languages.
On the Back Burner
As things would turn out, Jaime would get a job which would prevent the completion and release of the mobile game. For the next few years, the Amoebunnies would take a back seat to other projects and activites, but would make an occasional appearance in Darcy's gifts to Jaime and Sandy.
Back on Stream
Though having left the company that prevented the mobile game in 2015, Jaime decided to go a different direction with his next mobile game attempt. In 2017 though, he would start a Twitch stream. He spent a month or so looking for a theme for his channel and eventually requested to use the Amoebunnies. Darcy agreed and while not a lot of progress came for the characters, viewers did enjoy playing around with them in chat, Discord and on stream.
Getting Crafty
When Sandy learned how to crochet, she would go from project to project testing her skill. One project was to make all of the bunnies. Copies would be gifted to Darcy, as well as contest winners on Jaime's stream. Sandy would also make a set of Christmas ornaments which are still used annually. Darcy would also create some neat tiles of the crochet bunnies with her drawn ones and gift them back.
Hop on Board
Though Jaime's stream ended in just less than a year, the community stuck around and has continued to have interest in the Amoebunnies. After some discussions towards the end of 2021 about some possible projects to undertake, development for a board game began in earnest in January of 2022. The game was in full development for most of that year and the next.
Making It Real
Amoebunnies made some small public appearances on the Dice Tower Cruise and Protospiel Online, but our first real debut was at BGG.Spring 2023. We met so many great people there and at our future events, Dice Tower East, GenCon, BGG CON and more. Their enthusiasm helped power us into our crowdfunding campaign which launched in October 2024 and funded in just over an hour! Now we're focused on finishing touches and sending out copies as soon as possible.
