海角社区官网

鈥淭rash Panda鈥� 鈥� a self-described 鈥渃hill, low-fi raccoon simulator鈥� 鈥� released on video game platform Steam on Nov. 15 after two years of toil from its solo developer. It costs $9.99.

鈥淭he objective is dead simple 鈥� just make a mess,鈥� said creator Jason Leaver, a Toronto-based filmmaker and, for the first time, published video game developer.

True to the bandit cats鈥� nature, the objective of the game is to knock over as many suspiciously familiar trash bins as possible while snacking on their contents 鈥� some of which provide power-ups, like the ability to jump infinitely through the air.

鈥淚t’s more like a toy than a game in some ways,鈥� Leaver said. 鈥淵ou can challenge yourself, or you can just ignore the score and just wander around 海角社区官网neighbourhoods.鈥�

For now, the game features four 海角社区官网neighbourhoods including: Cabbagetown, Algonquin Island, Swansea and the Beaches. Leaver aims to add two more, 鈥渂ecause everyone loves the number six in Toronto, right?鈥�

He鈥檚 currently soliciting recommendations for areas to be added to the game.

The game鈥檚 maps were created based on open-source data from , meaning the placements of all the houses and streets in game are accurate to real life. The houses themselves are randomly generated, and are missing details like fencing or signage, leading to a more 鈥渋mpressionistic interpretation鈥� of Toronto, Leaver said.

Players will also have the opportunity to compete for garbage with a 鈥渘emesis raccoon鈥� and human trash-collectors, although these options can be toggled off if you鈥檙e looking for a more relaxed experience, he continued.

Currently available only on PC, Leaver said he鈥檚 looking into porting the game to Macs and for mobile.

The project first began during the pandemic in 2021, when there was a lull in the film industry. Leaver was flipping through on the Unity asset store 鈥� a catalogue of models for video games 鈥� when he stumbled upon a 3D model of a raccoon.

As a Torontonian, he fell in love at once and felt a duty to build a game around it, he recalled 鈥� but what would it be about? Leaver was taking his green bin out one night when the inspiration struck.

鈥淲hat if it鈥檚 just this 鈥� what if it鈥檚 just knocking over bins and making a mess? That should be fun for a raccoon, and should be fun for people too,鈥� he said.

After a couple months of work, Leaver had a basic demo ready and posted it to social media for fun. To his surprise, the game quickly went viral, attracting a flood of Torontonians and raccoon fans eager to give it a try.

鈥淭hat’s when I realized, OK, I got to stop calling 鈥楾rash Panda鈥� a hobby,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd so, while I’m still making corporate videos as a profession, whenever I’ve had time, I’ve worked on 鈥楾rash Panda鈥� over the last few years.鈥�

The game was especially popular with his daughter and her school friends 鈥� the now-ten-year-olds were among the game鈥檚 first beta testers, he said.

鈥淚鈥檓 considering making like a mini version of the game for my daughter鈥檚 school 鈥� as a fundraising thing or something like that 鈥� to give back to my community,鈥� Leaver continued.

Eagle-eyed Torontonians might notice little Easter eggs in reference to the city, like the city-inspired branding in the menus and the garbage bins themselves, which were modelled after Toronto鈥檚 four different sizes of bins. The trash cans even feature City of 鈥淭orono鈥� logos.

As with perhaps most 海角社区官网residents, Leaver has an extensive personal history with the trash pandas. His wildest encounter occurred just days before he got the idea for his game 鈥� he was taking out his trash as usual one night when he encountered a family of raccoons rifling through his Green Bin.

鈥淚 actually screamed right out loud,鈥� he said. 鈥淢ost of them scattered, but one of their little kids came right up to me and was trying to climb up my leg.

鈥淚 screamed, I yelled, my heart was racing. But at the same time, I’m not offended because they’re kinda my tenants,鈥� Leaver continued.

鈥淚n fact, I suspect that this family might be the grandchildren of the same raccoons that were born in the crawl space of our house a few years ago.鈥�