Indie Dev Spotlight: Giddy Goat Games

Billie Bust Up is a 3D musical platformer, with its music taking inspiration from classic Disney films. The player character is the titular goat Billie (she/they), accompanied by their fox companion Oscar and their axolotl mentor Aristotle (he/they). Billie’s goal in the game is to find magical gems while also finding more information about her missing and presumed-dead father. Along the way, Billie has to fight against a handful of bosses, whose songs telegraph their attack patterns while also keeping the player engaged.

As of right now, there is no release date yet for Billie Bust Up. If you’re interested in following the game’s progress, you can wishlist it on Steam, subscribe to the team’s YouTube channel, or join the official Discord server.

Behind the Scenes

Billie Bust Up has been in development since early 2017, with several development videos posted to the studio’s YouTube channel as the game’s development has progressed. The game is being developed in Unreal Engine 4, using the engine’s Blueprint functionality. Like many other indie games, it began as an entry for a game jam. At the time, it had been a much simpler 3D platformer.

In November of 2020, the team released a Kickstarter trailer for the project, alongside a free demo that was uploaded to itch.io. This demo included a boss fight and a testing map, which allowed players to test out the different mechanics in the game. The team posted several Shorts to their YouTube channel showing the game’s development progress, as well as fleshing out the characters and comparing the progress made to what the game had started as.

Community Feedback

The game has earned a growing fanbase, with many crediting YouTube’s algorithm for introducing them to the Barnaby chase scene and its music. Its official Discord server has just under 20,000 members at the time of writing, where the team shares development updates, including the process of converting the soundtrack from being MIDI-based to being fully orchestral. Many of the game’s fans are excited for its eventual release and eager to see another game that features LGBTQ+ and neurodiverse representation.

The songs that have been publicly shared have also seen a lot of popularity among the game’s followers, with 209.4K monthly listeners on Spotify at the time of writing, as well as several million views cumulatively on the songs’ YouTube uploads. Billie Bust Up‘s soundtrack has been another popular draw for the game, with the music being composed by Daniel Ingram and some of the vocalists being familiar names in the indie dev and indie animation space.

Final Thoughts

Billie Bust Up is one of many promising indie games that are currently in development. Its latest demo shows the progress that Giddy Goat Games has made, while also speaking to the promise of the eventual full release once the game is complete. Total Apex will be sure to cover Billie Bust Up as its development continues, so be sure to stay tuned for future coverage!