This indie developer is making a gun-wielding squirrel game in Unreal Engine 5 and it’s weirdly adorable

Squirrel holding large gun in Unreal Engine 5 — (Image credit: @QuiteDan)

An indie developer is currently working on an Unreal Engine 5 game where you play as a gun-wielding squirrel and it’s weirdly wonderful.

Twitter user and indie developer @QuiteDan has been sharing progress updates on their upcoming game in Unreal Engine 5. It’s too early to guess how the currently named "[pistol emoji] [chipmunk emoji]" (real title) game will play, but we do know that the starring fluffy critter knows its way around a gun - as demonstrated in the video below.

Trying grooms in #UnrealEngine5! 🔫🐿️ Squirrel is still a Blender rig, but Houdini handles the fur. This was extremely challenging, but very fun to explore!#indiedev #gamedev #UnrealEngine #blender3d #Houdini #screenshotsaturday pic.twitter.com/dyLfZGkH0WMay 15, 2022

The contrast of the adorable little squirrel and the big violent weapon is definitely hard to get your head around at first, but once you see the little guy waddling around with something double its size, you can’t help but find the whole thing just a little bit endearing. Not to mention that the squirrel’s model also looks super detailed thanks to Unreal Engine 5's impressive tech (with a little help from other software such as Blender and Houdini).

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This is one of the many uses of the newly launched software that we’ve seen so far. Gun-wielding squirrels aside, devs and artists have shared a number of other Unreal Engine 5 projects that are just as head-turning, including a fan-made Portal level remake, a Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, and an incredibly detailed Japanese train station recreation.

Of course, it isn’t just indie developers and fan projects using this technology; a number of upcoming AAA games are also being built with Unreal Engine 5, including a new Tomb Raider game, The Witcher 4, the open-world zombie MMO The Day Before, Kingdom Hearts 4, and many more.

Want to know what else we’ve got to look forward to this year? Take a look at our new games 2022 list.

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After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training. My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.