This pair goes way back, and when it comes to breaking down the concept of coming out Blue game, Brumm knew fellow Australian game studio Halfbrick was the way forward. “They make great kind of indie games. Like, that was the feeling BlueBrumm approached DO and his team to tackle a unique concept Blue“I believe in that sense it’s a punk rock type of show. So I thought, ‘No, these guys, they’d make a good game.’ And this has happened many times BlueWhere people simply operate like an alternative energy source. That’s how things get better around Bluey.”
And one of the things that went well were the fan-favorite episodes “Dragon” and “Escape,” where viewers follow the Healer family in their world of art. “In the series, we created a mechanic where kids draw, their drawings come to life, and we see them animated,” Brumm said of how well the idea seemed to fit the gameplay mechanic. “It’s a rainy day outside, the whole family is drawing around the table, and we’re going to draw theirs.”
Brumm continued, “And now the story is that Dad is taking the golden pen, and Blue needs it to do something. And so there’s a quest, several levels, and Dad is always avoiding them. Mom is the creator of all worlds, you know; she makes worlds.”
“I’m really happy that Joe introduced that mechanic to the drawn world,” said Deo. “You know, the shackles were taken off. They could make all these different prototypes that they would never have been able to do in real Blue World.”
“The beauty of these drawn worlds,” Brumm said. [they are places] Where you can be really funky and villainous, and kids love it because it’s their story and it’s a fairy tale and it’s over the top. There is no meanness or malice there; It’s just a big, stupid game they’re playing.”
DO cited their shared inspiration: “I was really excited about, almost like this open world, you know, where Blue could just ride, because we always wanted to have some core mechanics but have a space that players could explore. I think we got a lot of interesting mechanics from games we might have played back in the day.” and elaborated, “To me, you look old school zelda Games, top-down isometric, there’s a lot of stuff in there, like Mario Odyssey.”
Joe added, “What I love about the game is that it’s fun. The story I wrote feels like a simple setup you’d get from a Commodore 64 platformer – we’ve got a problem, and we’ve got a villain, so let’s get at it.”
Dio continued to share how Halfbrick really wanted to honor the family dynamic Brum has connected families around the world to, “To me, it’s just a good old-fashioned game. The world is crazy, the story and the characters, they’re cool. They can be outrageous sometimes. Really, the whole thing just has a kind of cool vibe to it. So it’s just a fun experience.”
Brumm explained how the game connects to the adventures he’s spent more than a decade sharing through the show: “Bandit has a gold pen that can turn everything into gold. He’s a mix between King Midas and David Lee Roth. Yes – that’s me,” the creator shared, the only time he acknowledged what fans have long speculated, that Bandit is an extension of himself.
“I can see that Joe is 100% writing himself into this story,” DO confirmed.
The conversation also revealed Brumm’s hopes for this latest Blue The release is in line with their expectations for the show. “Success in this game means the same thing to me as the series itself. I want to see kids happy playing this game,” the elusive creator behind Blue shared, “And when they play it, they smile, and they love it, and they want to show their friends, and they want to tell their parents about it and say, ‘Hey, I did this.'”
Watch the rest of the interview below:
Bluey’s search for the gold pen It will be available on the Apple App Store on December 11, with a free version and the option for a one-time purchase of all tiers. Its release through the Google Play Store is scheduled for January 10, 2026. The game is scheduled to expand to larger systems including PC, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S later in 2026.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
<a href