Introduction
You found a strange portal behind a Burger King in Chicago. When you were checking it out, you accidentally slipped through and found yourself on an alien world!
You need to figure out how to survive and get back home, but you don't see much: trees, rocks, some friendly local fauna, and a couple glowing crystals. You head for the nearest tree and start punching...
Idle Game
This is a game about gathering resources, to make your empire more efficient at gathering more resources. You'll need to check back every so often to harvest and spend resources!
Pet Game
You came through the portal alone, but there are all sorts of curious local critters who seem interested in helping you. Maybe you can make some friends and get their help with finding your way home?
Dungeon Crawl
You won't find the rarest resources & gear lying around in a field: prepare your companions and delve into dungeons, with turn-based RPG-style combat. Perhaps you'll find the secrets of the crystals in the darkest depths?
Build a World
You aren't the only person to fall through that portal in Chicago. Work with other players towards community goals for site-wide buffs and build your (temporary?) home into a thriving civilization, together!
What is Project Zutto?
This is an upcoming browser-based game, mixing elements found in virtual pet sites like Neopets with idle games like Cookie Clicker. You can work towards goals gradually, and keeping your pets happy will ensure the best returns. As you progress further, you'll unlock more buildings, resource types, and recipes. You can use your resources to buff your pets up for dungeon delves, where you can find the best loot.
There is no end to the game. When you've reached the pinnacle of advancement, you can prestige to reset your progress. You'll keep your pets and whatever you can carry, and playing through again allows you to adopt another companion.
Since this is an online game, our forums/chat will be an important part of the community — after all, you need something to do while you're waiting for your next harvest. There will be community events where donating resources or completing dungeons will advance a shared, site-wide goal. If the community is successful, everybody gains a powerful boost.
Hopefully, that seems nostalgic, bringing you back to an earlier era of the web where you'd vote every week on for your favorite sites on a "top web games" list. If not, hopefully the game still sounds interesting to you!
How much does it cost?
The game will be free. This is a hobbiest project. It is meant to be a small community that fits onto a relatively cheap server.
There is a budget for art and other tradeskills we do not specialize in, but this isn't a side hustle or our dream of launching a game studio. This is a cool web game that we wanted to make for the sake of it.
When can I play?
When it's ready.
There are a couple ways you can follow Project Zutto so you'll know when it's ready: follow us on the fediverse, follow our news feed in your RSS reader, or join the Discord server.
If those options don't work for you, you can come back to the website periodically to check and see if there's a game yet.
Can I help?
Maybe. Right now, we're looking for some artists to work with long-term for icons, pets, items, and scene illustrations. If you are an artist an offer commissions for commercial projects, please see the Help Wanted » Art Assets page.
We are not looking for moderators, testers, community managers, or anything else right now. Until the game is ready, all of those things are ornamental.