Development
Timeline &
Milestones.

XenoEtiquette was born at a game jam — an asymmetric co-op concept about alien communication that immediately revealed its comedic potential. It all started with 7 of us in the room. And one ancient anomaly.

• Niklas Malinen — Lead Programmer
• Lassi Vapaakallio — Senior Game Designer
• Soham Sen — Game Designer
• Fiona Keil — Art Direction, 2D Artist
• Elena Chebannaya — 3D Artist, UI Designer
• Leo Krechmer — Producer
• Mariia Makushina — Marketing & Business
• Opabinia — Ancient Diplomatic Anomaly

Selected for Espoo Game Lab (EGL), a Finnish game development accelerator, giving the team structured support to validate and develop the concept further. What started as 7 people at a game jam was now a focused core team of 3 — plus one ancient anomaly.

• Fiona Keil — Artist & Co-Designer
• Niklas Malinen — Lead Programmer & Co-Designer
• Mariia Makushina — Marketing & Partnerships
• Opabinia — Ancient Diplomatic Anomaly

The first concept prototype and public Show and Tell with invited jury guests.

The first fully playable prototype, expanding on the concept with complete asymmetric roles, alien species, and communication mechanics. Our party just got a new character — we're excited to welcome Miro Aurela to the team as our new Producer & Co-Designer!

• Miro Aurela — Producer & Co-Designer

XenoEtiquette was showcased at Media Demo Day, receiving its first attention and player feedback from a public audience.

Had a Demo corner at Games First by Supercell — receiving its first attention and player feedback from a public audience.

An improved playable prototype incorporating feedback from playtesting, refining mechanics, puzzle balance, and the co-op communication experience. We finished 2nd overall among 10 teams and received two special recognitions:

• Best Pitch
• Most Fun

Open online registration via website for the future playtest. The Bureau is now accepting civilian field observer applications.

The Bureau has officially opened a new broadcast channel. Development logs, field observations, playtest evidence, and other transmissions from the XenoEtiquette programme are now being documented on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/@XenoetiquetteGame

XenoEtiquette headed to the IGDA Helsinki August Meetup, supported by Supercell — our very first IGDA Helsinki event!

We decided to make our debut count: we applied for the Demo Corner for the very first time — and got a spot. 👽🎮

📋 Official playtest statistics:

🎮 6 main game playtests 🕹️ 1 mini web game playtest 👥 15 players in total ✨ 14 first-time recruits 🔁 1 returning human who had previously encountered XenoEtiquette at Aalto Demo Day

New Bureau hypothesis unlocked: XenoEtiquette might have some serious potential as a game for groups. 👀

We also heard something particularly important several times throughout the evening: players found the concept unique.

Application submitted for Demo Corner participation at IGDA Helsinki October Meetup. Awaiting field deployment confirmation.

Registered to attend Leadership Day by IGDA Finland, an international conference focused on leadership, teams and working culture in games.

Invited to attend the Hivemind World Games Mixer in Helsinki — a curated games industry evening for founders, executives, publishers and investors.

Showcased XenoEtiquette at the Big Indie Zone, gathered feedback from players and industry professionals, pitched to seven judges at the Big Indie Pitch, and attended our first publisher meeting as a team.

FIELD DATA • 30 play sessions · 61 players · 436 minutes of gameplay • 48 players played one round, 9 played two, and 4 played part of a round • Average and median mission duration: approximately 16 minutes • Middle 50% of recorded player times: 13–19 minutes · Full range: 6–32 minutes

Attempts to play with three humans were also observed. The Bureau is investigating.

Attending W Love Games 2026 in Helsinki as part of Finnish Games Week — a cross-disciplinary conference featuring talks, workshops and community events.