DEVELOPER
Twice Different
Based in Melbourne, Australia
press@winnieshole.com
RELEASE DATE
NEW DEMO end of May 2025
Early Access late 2025
PLATFORMS
PC on Steam
Steam Page link
GENRE
Dark Comedy, Roguelite, Dungeon Crawler, Deckbuilder
WEBSITE
http://winnieshole.com
TWITTER
@twicedifferent / @sboxle
DISCORD
https://discord.gg/twicedifferent
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WINNIE’S WHAT?!
When I told the programmer I wanted to call the game “Winnie’s Hole” he laughed and said no… but it is too perfect.
It captures the irreverence, the storybook feel, and has layered meanings within the game.
And importantly, as divisive as it may be – it evokes a response.
WHY WINNIE?
Familiarity, contrast, engagement, and experimentation!
There’s comfort in familiarity.
He’s a known character, and this means we can build an original story around him without needing to introduce him.
Our goal is to make innovative, accessible genre-hybrid strategy games, and this game is an experiment that just kept going.
Winnie’s Hole was spawned from dozens of prototypes for a monster building game, which only really clicked into place after a weeklong gamejam using Winnie as the main character instead of growing an amorphous organism. When we showed some indie dev friends they thought it was hilarious, so we decided to build it out enough to announce in 2023. This is when it first went viral.
The announcement had 25+ million views across all platforms, and with such a huge response we increased the scope of the game into an expandable world we can take into Early Access to build alongside our community.
WHY MAKE WINNIE EVIL?
He’s physically mutating, but underneath he’s the same friendly bear. You play a symbiotic virus, and the goal of a virus is to survive. A virus doesn’t understand friendship, and Winnie doesn’t fully understand that he’s infected.
ANY FAVOURITE REACTIONS?
The conspiracy that we’re funded by a certain corporation to cause an outrage that allows them to extend copyright laws.
DESCRIPTION
Join Winnie on a new adventure, from within!
Play as a virus in his body and mind. Capture cells to mutate and build a deck of actions to unleash in combo-driven combat. A genre-blending roguelite with a dark yet charming story. Embrace discomfort – Sometimes we can’t help being seen as a monster…
Winnie’s Hole is a holesome horror comedy that reimagines the world of A.A. Milne’s classic Winnie with the grit of a Brother’s Grimm story, and the charm of a Nickelodeon cartoon.
HISTORY
Winnie’s Hole is the second game from Australian indie micro studio Twice Different, following the success of their genre-blending roguelike card crawler, Ring of Pain.
A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh entered the public domain in 2022.
This project started taking form late 2022, borne from a lot of prototyping.
FEATURES
THEMATIC
– Holesome horror comedy in a world of dark science, blending the vibe of a Brother’s Grimm fairytale with Nickelodeon cartoons.
– Charming characters in a world loosely inspired by A.A. Milne’s classic Winnie the Pooh.
– An anti-cosy game about finding acceptance in a judgemental world.
– A subversion of public domain content which is elevated beyond a gimmick, in a genuine attempt to make the game version of a charming abomination.
MECHANICS
– Mutate and evolve Winnie as you play a virus in his body and mind.
– Virus-building exploration in randomised cellular worlds, traversed by placing virus blocks shaped like tetrominoes.
– Dynamic combo-driven combat. Each turn, actions you’ve learned are dealt into a Brain board. Place your virus block shapes to activate a combination of actions. Expand the host’s Brain and evolve your virus for more powerful combos.
– Semi-auto battling. Performing multiple actions from a single move is much faster than a typical deckbuilder where you play one action at a time. Quickfire gameplay for those who want it, while still being turn-based for more strategic depth and accessibility.
– Challenging new roguelite format. Exploration and combat are cohesively tied to your inventory of malleable virus block shapes. Master evolution and strategise with your resources.
– Unlock new virus types and strains with different specialties and game-changing play styles.
ART ASSETS
Download all Press Kit images .zip
