Conkers reimagined: a look into the new game created by students
25 April 2025
Meet the Games Academy students behind Conked Out, a heartfelt twist on the deck-building genre that includes wizards, conkers and a sprinkle of chaos. Blending reaction-based gameplay with strategic card mechanics, the title reimagines the classic British playground game of conkers in a fantasy world full of absurd characters and horse-chestnut puns.
As the creators gear up to showcase their work at Falmouth’s Games Expo, we caught up with the team’s programmer/designer Theo Fogg to hear about the origins of the game, the joys and headaches of development, and how a tongue-in-cheek idea evolved into a fully-fledged experience that’s already capturing attention.
Tell us about your new game Conked Out
In Conked Out, wizards duel with conkers instead of wands. Combining reaction-based gameplay with turn-based strategy, you swing through a fantastical world of absurd characters and ridiculous horse-chestnut puns. Inspired by the classic British playground game, we’re excited to introduce a fresh, physics-based twist – dripping with humour – to the deck-building roguelike genre.
Where did the idea come from?
Conked Out’s origins lie in the humble plastic ‘party bags’ many of us received as children. At the Games Academy Expo, visitors are often only willing to sit down for a few minutes before moving on. That means successful games have to be mechanically exciting but intuitive enough to respect a player’s time, avoiding lengthy tutorials or backstory.
We realised the best way to make something instantly engaging and recognisable was to draw inspiration from physical toys and games from childhood. We spent hours listing playground pastimes and knick-knacks – tiddlywinks, thumb wars, tiny metal-ball mazes, and those ‘magic’ ring puzzles you usually just snap apart.
Eventually, we combined the destructible, block-based stakes of Jenga with the strategic appeal of Top Trumps and trading cards – and, believe it or not, conkers – to quickly form the core concept of Conked Out as a uniquely physics-based vessel for deck-building.
And why wizards? Because our original idea – playing as residents of a retirement home – felt a little off-colour. Don’t tell anyone, but “Conked Out” was originally a double entendre for sleepy grandparents!
You’ve described the game as a blend of reaction-based and turn-based mechanics. How tricky was it to balance those two styles?
It was complicated. Much like balancing insightful design with terrible puns, we went through many versions before landing on something that worked. We had long discussions with supervisors over whether Conked Out should become the next Slay the Spire or a hilarious party game. Some people simply enjoyed swinging their conker around, largely ignoring the cards, while others calculated their turns meticulously.
The physics-based agency lent itself to some entertaining chaos, but we had to decide how much randomness to keep, and how much to lean into strategic play. Ultimately, what worked was shifting our swing mechanic from a turn-ending cursor drag to a QTE system, activated via attack cards. This gave both player types more control over what they enjoyed doing.
With no dedicated programmers, how have you approached the technical challenges?
Without programmers, we scoped Conked Out to be mechanically concise, always considering our stretched workloads and lack of advanced coding skills. Of course, technical issues still came up, resulting in two designers banging heads together and deep-diving through forums until something clicked.
There are a few moments in our codebase that we lovingly refer to as “screwdrivers stuck inside demon cores”. If you know, you know.
Thankfully, our assigned supervisor has been fantastic at passing on issues to staff who can help. We were also made aware of dedicated programming support available for teams like ours, which would be reassuring in emergencies.
What’s been the biggest challenge so far?
Surprisingly, we haven’t hit any major blockers affecting the whole team. We’ve had our share of stubborn code and file issues – shout-out to cool_gorilla.zip for getting flagged by antivirus software – but these have mostly been role-specific and haven’t disrupted momentum.
We likely avoid bigger roadblocks by meeting regularly, sharing ideas across disciplines and working closely together. Our small team size means we can clearly track progress and keep things moving, and the fact we’re all good mates outside of work definitely helps.
Are you excited to present at Expo?
YES! How often do you get to dress up as wizards and swing crocheted horse-chestnuts at the general public and industry professionals? We’re going all out on our stand and plan to cast a whimsical spell over Expo this year.
Seeing our game’s identity come to life and enjoyed by hundreds of people is an incredible feeling, and we hope you’ll swing by!
In conclusion, we might be nearing the final stages of development on the course – but we’re still cooking up some big features for Expo and beyond. Watch this space, wizards.
External links
Link to our itch.io: https://green-bot.itch.io/conked-out
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