Hey Hangry Fam,

Some weeks, we’re elbows deep in code and physics, testing how high we can stack jelly without it sliding off into chaos. Other weeks, we’re thinking about the bigger picture — what kind of game Nom Nom Express is shaping up to be, and why it matters. This week, it’s a mix of both.

Adventure games are having a moment. In fact, in 2024 they were the most popular genre by sales on PC, taking 17.1% of total revenue, beating out Shooters, RPGs, Sports, and even Battle Royale titles. People clearly want exploration, narrative, and discovery at the heart of their play, and 2025 shows little signs of it slowing down, despite the extraction shooter frenzy of releases happening out there.

Meanwhile, job simulators have carved out their own niche, offering players rewarding task loops, quirky humour, and a sense of satisfaction without the grind of real life. As The Courier Online put it:

“Sometimes a chill, predictable and boring game is what someone needs at the moment instead of a thrilling, epic adventure.”

Job sims satisfy our basic need to try things without consequence. To turn mundane tasks we sometimes take for granted and play with them in a sandbox of safety without the risk of losing our job, failing or getting stuck in an endless loop. In fact, part of the release and dopamine delivery of a job sim game, is the ability to mess it up, fail, try again and find numerous way to fail. Part of the appeal and sometimes quest is to fail often and fail fast, whilst other times, seeking order and getting rewarded for completing repetitive tasks, satisfies that part of us we sometimes don't get to explore in our daily routine. The quiet moments and solo play escapism is the area of gaming we're very interested in right now.

Here’s where we get excited: Nom Nom Express isn’t trying to pick one lane. We’re blending the principles of adventure games, exploration, story, a world worth discovering, with the task-reward mechanics of job sims, where stacking, delivering, and surviving ridiculous hazards become the backbone of the fun. Some say Job Sims have had their day?? But with Power Wash Simulator doing great numbers, the Tony Hawk style mop game (Mop Skater) doing great numbers, it appears the smaller more agile titles that tap into the fun aspects of mundane tasks simply does it for us. 

In our game you can:

• Go chaotic and speedy, chasing that fastest delivery time, even if it means items fall off your stack mid-run.

• Play for precision and perfect scores, earning badges for flawless orders and immaculate stacking.

• Or take the adventurer’s route, exploring strange environments, uncovering secrets, and taming creatures that stand between you and your delivery.

It’s not just a delivery game. It’s not just an adventure game. It’s not just a job sim. It’s a weird and wonderful hybrid, and we think that’s where the magic lies.

Inspiration Corner: Job Sims We Love

We’re not the only ones who see the charm in turning everyday work into something fun. A few games we’ve admired along the way:

Job Simulator, the VR classic that proved even mundane office work could become comedy gold.

PowerWash Simulator, strangely zen, deeply addictive, and proof that clean streaks can be as satisfying as a boss fight. With a second iteration looming, this one is definitely a hit for us. It's also one of my fav's (Hangry Andy) to relax, whilst not coding or illustrating the next character to add to the Hangryverse world.

Satisfactory, is a first-person open-world factory building game with a dash of exploration and combat. The humour in this game is on par, with the tone, we aim to achieve with Hangry games into the future. Universal, happy accident, chaos.

Each of these titles took something ordinary and made it extraordinary — exactly what we’re aiming for with Nom Nom Express. There are many other titles in our Wishlist… eherm “Research” list that we’re drawing inspiration from to flesh out a world to explore, but starting with the core urgency delivery mechanic is key, then we build flavours of play modes from there. Exciting times. 

September has been a great month for us, with our 1/1 Illustration prize draw coming to a close, we will be announcing the winner of the latest 1/1 Character to be added to the Hangry Animals universe next week, as well as a special gift for the winner too. Keep an eye on our X, Insta for the announced winner. To everyone who purchased a collectible this month, thank you so much, it means a lot to us that support continues as we build out this world of interconnected experiences for everyone. 

Vicky’s Artwork for Cute & Creepy gang is amazing, go check work out over on X/Vickilicious10. Ozzy the Guinea Pig, Bruce the Boston Terrier and Kenji the Samurai Monkey are new characters integrated into the lore and storylines of the Hangry Animals world. More to follow as we continue into Oct with new characters to reveal and more prizes to be drawn.

To our early adopters, your support gives us the freedom to experiment with hybrids like this. To dial in physics until stacks topple hilariously. To test difficulty curves so each world feels unique. And to push forward with originality, not clones, not shortcuts, but art and technology moving in unison. Woooop.

Adventure + Job Sim + Hangry. That’s our recipe. And we can’t wait for you to get a taste when the game is fully baked.

With love and hangryness!
The Hangry Animals Team
www.hangryanimals.com

👋 Just joined us? 

You can rummage through every past issue on our newsletter homepage in Paragraph.
No paywall, no spam, just pure Hangry.

👍 Got questions or reflections?
Pop them into the #ideas-vault on Discord or email us at hello@hangryanimals.com. 

👉Still want more?
Click here to explore our social channels