Undertale facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Undertale |
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| Developer(s) | Toby Fox |
| Publisher(s) |
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| Designer(s) | Toby Fox |
| Artist(s) | Temmie Chang |
| Composer(s) | Toby Fox |
| Engine | GameMaker Studio |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release date(s) |
September 15, 2015
OS X, Windows
September 15, 2015 Linux July 17, 2016 PS4, PS Vita August 15, 2017 Nintendo Switch September 18, 2018 Xbox One March 16, 2021 |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Undertale is a popular role-playing video game from 2015. It was made by an American game creator named Toby Fox. In this 2D game, you control a child who falls into a hidden world called the Underground. This world is full of monsters and is separated from the surface by a magic barrier.
As you try to find your way back home, you meet many different monsters. Some monsters might want to fight you. The game's combat is unique: you have to dodge mini-attacks, like in a "bullet hell" game. You can choose to fight monsters or try to make friends with them. Your choices really matter! They change the story, what characters say, and how the game ends.
Toby Fox created almost the entire game by himself, including the story and music. Only the artwork and character designs were done by Temmie Chang and a few other artists. Undertale was inspired by many other games, like Mario & Luigi and Mother. It also took ideas from bullet-dodging games like Touhou Project and even the comedy show Mr. Bean.
The game was first released for computers in September 2015. Later, it came out on Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One. People loved Undertale for its amazing story, fun combat, great music, and original ideas. It has sold over five million copies and won many awards. Many gaming websites and events called Undertale one of the greatest video games ever made. Toby Fox also released two chapters of a related game called Deltarune in 2018 and 2021.
Contents
How Undertale Was Made
Toby Fox spent about 32 months making Undertale. He got money to create the game through a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. He asked for $5,000, but people loved the idea so much that they donated over $51,000!
Toby Fox didn't have much experience making full games before Undertale. He used to make small role-playing games with his brothers using a tool called RPG Maker 2000. He also made changes to other games like EarthBound when he was in high school. Before Undertale, he was best known for writing music for the webcomic Homestuck. Undertale was the first complete game he wrote all by himself.
Toby Fox wanted to make a role-playing game that felt different from others. He thought many traditional RPGs were "boring to play." He aimed to create a game with "interesting characters" and a story that used the game itself to tell its tale. He wanted the story and gameplay to be connected, not separate.
He worked on almost everything in the game by himself. This was so he wouldn't have to rely on other people. Temmie Chang was the main artist, drawing most of the characters and ideas. Toby Fox said that the game's art style would probably stay simple even if he had a bigger team. He believed that players connect more with characters that are drawn simply.
Game Design Choices
The way you defend yourself in battles was inspired by games like Mario & Luigi and "bullet hell" games such as Touhou Project. Toby Fox wanted to create a battle system that he would enjoy playing himself. He wanted it to be as fun as the battles in Super Mario RPG and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
Toby Fox didn't want players to have to "grind" (do repetitive tasks to get stronger) in the game. He also avoided "fetch quests" (tasks where you have to go get something) because he didn't like having to go back and forth. He made sure the game was easy enough for everyone to enjoy. He even had friends who weren't good at bullet-dodging games test it, and they could finish it.
The idea of talking to monsters to avoid fighting them came from the game Shin Megami Tensei.
Writing the Story
The idea of being stuck in an underground world was inspired by the game Brandish. Toby Fox was also influenced by funny internet culture and comedy shows like Mr. Bean. He also liked the slightly spooky feeling of EarthBound.
Toby Fox wanted to challenge common ideas found in many games. He found that writing the story became easier once he understood each character's voice and feelings. He also felt that creating the world was natural because it helped tell the stories of the characters in it. He thought it was important to make each monster feel like a real individual. He felt that in some games, like Final Fantasy, all monsters are the same, which he found less meaningful.
Toriel, one of the first characters you meet, was created to make fun of "tutorial" characters in games. Toby Fox didn't like how some games, like The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, gave away puzzle answers too early. He also felt that many role-playing games didn't have strong mother characters. He wanted Toriel to be a "mom that hopefully acts like a mom" and truly cares about the player.
The characters Papyrus and Sans are named after the fonts Papyrus and Comic Sans. Their dialogue in the game even shows up in those fonts! Toby Fox got the idea for them from a webcomic called Helvetica, which also features a skeleton named after a font.
Game Music
Toby Fox composed all the music for Undertale using a program called FL Studio. He taught himself how to make music. Most of the songs were made quickly, but the main theme, "Undertale," took many tries to get right.
The music was inspired by old Super NES role-playing games like EarthBound, the bullet-dodging series Touhou Project, and the webcomic Homestuck. Toby Fox said he tries to get ideas from all the music he hears, especially in video games. Over 90% of the songs were made specifically for Undertale. One song, "Megalovania," which plays during a boss fight with Sans, had been used in Homestuck and one of Toby Fox's old EarthBound game changes.
Toby Fox often made the music for a part of the game before he programmed it. This helped him decide how the scene should feel. To celebrate the game's first birthday in 2016, he shared five songs that weren't used in the final game.
People really loved Undertale's music. Critics praised how it used different musical themes (called leitmotifs) for different characters throughout the game. For example, the song "Hopes and Dreams," which plays during a big boss fight, brings back many of the main character themes. This makes it a perfect way to end your journey, according to USgamer.
Game Release
The first demo of Undertale came out on May 23, 2013. At the time, it was about 25% of the full game. The full game was released on September 15, 2015, for OS X and Windows computers. It came out for Linux on July 17, 2016.
Toby Fox wanted to release Undertale on other game systems, but it was hard to move it to Nintendo consoles at first. This was because the game's engine didn't support them. In January 2016, a patch (an update) was released to fix bugs and make blue attacks easier for colorblind players to see.
At the E3 2017 event, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that Undertale would come to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. These versions were released on August 15, 2017.
A Nintendo Switch version was announced in March 2018. This release was important because it helped make it easier for games made with GameMaker Studio 2 to come to the Switch. The Switch version was released on September 15, 2018, in Japan, and on September 18, 2018, worldwide. The Xbox One version came out on March 16, 2021. All the console versions were developed by a Japanese company called 8-4.
Fan Community
Undertale quickly gained a huge group of dedicated fans, known as a cult following. About a year after the game came out, Toby Fox said he was surprised by how popular it became. While he was thankful for the attention, he also found it a bit stressful. He said he wouldn't be surprised if he never made another game as successful, and that was okay with him.
Awards and Recognition
Undertale appeared on many "best games of 2015" lists. It was named "Game of the Month" and "Funniest Game on PC" by Rock Paper Shotgun. It also won "Best Game Ever" from GameFAQs and "Game of the Year for PC" from The Jimquisition, Zero Punctuation, and IGN.
The game won awards for its story and how it used role-playing elements. IGN gave it "Best Story" in their Best of 2015 awards. It was also nominated for awards like "Role-Playing/Massive Multiplayer Game of the Year" and "Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction" by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. At the Independent Games Festival, Undertale won the "Audience Award" and was nominated for "Excellence in Audio" and "Excellence in Narrative." The SXSW Gaming Awards named it the "Most Fulfilling Crowdfunded Game" and gave it the "Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award."
In 2019, Polygon listed Undertale as one of the best games of the decade. In 2021, IGN ranked Undertale as the 20th greatest game of all time. In Japan, a big poll by TV Asahi with over 50,000 players listed Undertale as the 13th greatest game ever.
Deltarune: A Related Game
After hinting at something new, Toby Fox released the first chapter of Deltarune for free on October 31, 2018. Deltarune is not exactly the same world as Undertale, but it has characters and places that might remind you of it. Toby Fox said it's meant for people who have already finished Undertale. The name Deltarune is even an anagram (letters rearranged) of Undertale.
Toby Fox explained that Deltarune will be a bigger project than Undertale. He said it took him a few years to make just the first chapter, which was much longer than it took to make the Undertale demo.
Chapter 2 of Deltarune was released on September 17, 2021. Toby Fox now has a team helping him with the game. Once all the chapters are finished, the game will be released as a complete package. Toby Fox doesn't have a set date for when it will be done. Deltarune is planned to have only one ending, no matter what choices you make in the game. Even though the first two chapters were free, Toby Fox plans to charge money for the full game when it's complete.
See also
In Spanish: Undertale para niños
