In development · Wooden-Pixel Studios
A side-scrolling cooperative platform adventure about two cousins who leave their forest home to help a magical lagoon in crisis. Built for kids, built for couches, built so nobody plays alone.
Play Together. Learn Together.
The first flagship game
Owen spots a magical explosion above the treeline. The Heartwater Crystal — the thing that keeps the Enchanted Lagoon in balance — has shattered. That night, in the storm, a turtle named Percy knocks on Jer-Bear's door asking for help. The cousins say yes.
Five communities, tackled in whatever order you like, Mega-Man style. No stage is locked behind another — but the gifts you earn along the way make later stages friendlier.
Owen's Owl Sight reveals things Jer-Bear simply cannot see. On two consoles, only Owen's screen shows them. The best moments sound like "there are footprints behind the waterfall."
The corrupted community leaders aren't evil — they're clouded by unstable magic. Win, and you don't destroy an enemy. You get someone their friend back.
Generous checkpoints, forgiving retries, gentle enemies, optional hints. Classic Arcade and Adaptive modes are there when you want the teeth.
Adventure Partners
Jer-Bear and Owen Owl are cousins and best friends. They tease each other warmly, back each other up sincerely, and solve every problem better together than apart.
Brown bear · older cousin · courage & heart
Brave, protective, energetic, and relentlessly optimistic. Impulsive sometimes, but never foolish and never cruel. In play, he's the grounded one: strength, protection, moving what won't move.
His lesson True strength comes from helping others.
Great horned owl · younger cousin · curiosity & discovery
Clever, observant, and endlessly curious — which is exactly what gets him into trouble. In play, he's the one who sees it first: Owl Sight, gliding, clues, secrets, and puzzles.
His lesson Knowledge matters most when you use it to help.
The world
A stage isn't an obstacle course. It's a place with traditions, leaders, problems, and something worth teaching. Help a community and its leader gives you a Crystal Shard — plus a gift for Jer-Bear and a gift for Owen, drawn from what that community knows how to do.
Mossy caves and still water. The gentlest way in — and the source of the gifts that make the rapids kinder.
Fast water, whirlpools, and a community that plays rough and laughs hard.
Burrows beneath the meadow, where a whole town lives in the dark and knows every tunnel by heart.
Rope bridges and branch highways, far above the lagoon floor. Don't look down. Or do.
Old ruins and older memory. Percy's people have been keeping the lagoon's balance the longest.
A machine built on top of the Heartwater Well by a beaver who has a real problem — and exactly the wrong solution.
The studio
Wooden-Pixel Studios was founded by Ben Wood and his brothers to cultivate a legacy of connection, wonder, and growth through heartwarming, shared pixel adventures. Not one game — a place families come back to across years.
We take retro inspiration as a starting point, then add modern warmth, storytelling, accessibility, and emotional payoff. The goal isn't 8-bit limitation. It's storybook pixel charm.
Children deserve games that are both fun and meaningful. We never sacrifice the fun for the lesson — and we never stop the game to lecture. You feel the message by playing.
From the workshop
Early days, and deliberately so — we finish things before we announce them. Here's the direction. Mailing list gets the real dates first.
Planned
A family console designed as a gathering place: couch co-op first, online co-op that keeps each player's information their own, and a library built for ages 4 through 14.
Long-term
Nature Tokens, Heart Seeds, plush, stickers, and stories that deepen the history of characters your kids already know. One connected Wooden-Pixel world.