- Leveling up and Looking Back - 16 April 2026
From Idea to ShowcaseHi, Tough Cookies!On the 7th of April, we had the opportunity to showcase My Friend Barrington at the Level Up Showcase in Toronto, and honestly, we’re still taking it all in.What started back in September as a group of students coming together with an idea has now become something real. Standing there, watching people pick up the controller, explore Barrington’s world, and experience moments we spent months building… It’s something we won’t forget.For many of us, this was the first time seeing players interact with the game in person. Seeing reactions in real time, watching people pause, smile, focus, and feel something while playing reminded us why we started this in the first place.It wasn’t just about finishing a project. It was about creating an experience.Level Up also gave us the chance to connect with other developers, industry professionals, and fellow stud…
- The Official Trailer is Here! - 24 March 2026
Hi, Tough Cookies!We’re excited to finally share the official trailer for My Friend Barrington.Our video and art team have worked incredibly hard to capture the heart of the game, blending Barrington’s imaginative world with the reality of Jordan’s life. This trailer is a small glimpse into that balance, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do.Huge credit to our video team, Garrett and Kieran, along with our creative director Tyler, for bringing this to life and creating this first look into the world of My Friend Barrington.We are now just 13 days away from release, and we’ll also be showcasing the game at Level Up Toronto, one of the largest student game showcases in Canada. If you’re attending, we’d love for you to stop by, try the game, and meet the team behind Tough Cookie Productions.More updates coming soon as we get closer to release.Stay tough, Tough Cookies.— Tough Cookie Pr…
- The Challenges of Student Development - 24 March 2026
Welcome back, Tough Cookies!The countdown to Release Day has begun! With just 13 days left until we share what we have spent the past 7 months creating, the nerves are definitely high, but we are equally as excited! Over the past few weeks, we’ve been diving into our design process and sharing the behind-the-scenes of My Friend Barrington. From character design and environments to FMV and audio, we’ve talked about the different ways our team approaches storytelling through gameplay.But today, we want to talk about something a little more real: what it’s actually like building a game as a team of students.When Tough Cookie Productions first came together in September, many of us were meeting for the first time. Suddenly, we were working as a team of twenty developers, each bringing different skills, schedules, and creative ideas to the table. It was exciting, but it also meant learning h…
- Capturing Nostalgia: The Live Action Aesthetic - 13 March 2026
Happy Friday, Tough Cookies!We’re back with another dev blog. We hope you’re enjoying reading these as much as we’re enjoying writing them.Today, we’re stepping into something that might surprise you a little: Full Motion Video (FMV).Yes… actual live-action.If narrative shapes meaning and mechanics carry tension, then the environment is where all of that lives. For My Friend Barrington, that meant thinking carefully about how we could represent both Jordan’s imagination and the reality that shapes it.As a team with strong foundations in writing, design, art, film, and narrative and a heavier skillset in creative disciplines than technical ones, we knew early on that we weren’t trying to build a mechanic-heavy game. Instead, we focused on letting everyone’s strengths shine. That’s the beauty of our team.Our producers, Ryan and Andre, understood that the best version of this project would…
- Character Design: Bringing Barrington to Life - 10 March 2026
Happy Tuesday, Tough Cookies!Today, we want to talk about someone you’ve probably already met a few times on this page: Barrington.Barrington Bear is the heart of My Friend Barrington. While players explore the world through his perspective, he also represents something much bigger than just a playable character. Barrington is the imagined hero of eleven-year-old Jordan. From the very beginning, we knew Barrington needed to feel comforting, familiar, and expressive in a way that instantly connects with players. That meant drawing inspiration from something many of us share: childhood toys.When designing Barrington, we knew we wanted him to feel as familiar as possible. His design pulls from the kind of stuffed animals many people remember from childhood, with simple silhouettes, rounded proportions, and stitched details that suggest both warmth and resilience.One small but meaningful de…
- We’re Heading to Level Up Showcase Toronto! - 10 March 2026
Hi, Tough Cookies!We’re excited to share that My Friend Barrington will be showcased at the Level Up Showcase in Toronto on April 7th!Level Up is one of the largest student game showcases in Canada, bringing together studios, developers, and industry professionals to celebrate emerging talent in game development. Our team will be there to present My Friend Barrington and share the world we’ve been building over the past several months.If you’re attending the showcase, we’d love for you to stop by, try the game, and say hello to the team behind Tough Cookie Productions.It’s been an incredible journey bringing this project to life, and we’re excited to share it with the community in person.Stay tuned for more updates coming soon as we get closer to the event.See you there!— Tough Cookie Productions
- A First Look at Our Official Poster! - 10 March 2026
Hi, Tough Cookies!Today, we’re excited to share something a little different from our usual dev blogs: the official poster for My Friend Barrington.From the beginning, we wanted our poster to capture the feeling of the game, and we are so happy to share it with you. Barrington sits at the center of a toy-like world, surrounded by familiar childhood toys that also feature in our game, but the lighting tells a different story. The single spotlight falling on Barrington shows how much hope our character gives, regardless of the weight Jordan carries in reality.Just like the environments in the game, the poster balances playfulness with tension. The bright shapes and retro toy style reflect the boundless imagination of childhood, while the shadows remind us that imagination often exists alongside real emotions.Huge credit to Amelia, our lead 2D artist, for helping bring this visual together…
- Environment Design: The Living Imagination - 24 February 2026
Hi, Tough Cookies!We’re back, and this one’s all about environment design.Today, we’re talking about something that defines the feeling of My Friend Barrington before you even press jump: Environment Design.If narrative shapes meaning and mechanics carry tension, then the environment is where all of that lives.From the beginning, we knew the world couldn’t just look imaginative. It needed to feel like a living imagination. Something that adapts, stretches, and subtly shifts alongside Jordan’s emotional state.That’s where Tanisha, one of our 3D artists, comes in.Designing a “Living Imagination”When we asked Tanisha how she approached designing environments that feel like a child’s fluctuating psyche, her answer focused on visual language. For her, it wasn’t just about making things playful. It was about using shapes, scale, texture, and movement to communicate emotion.Rounder forms tend…
- Narrative Through Design - 24 February 2026
Hi, Tough Cookies!Can we call you that? At this point, if you’re reading our second dev blog, you’re basically part of the family.Today, we want to dive into something that has shaped our development process in a very real way: how narrative emerges through design.In our first post, we talked about imagination as structure. In this one, we want to focus on how that structure actually comes to life inside a level.One of the biggest questions we’ve been asking ourselves throughout development is how to let narrative surface naturally through gameplay, rather than forcing it through exposition. For us, the answer has consistently come back to restraint.Instead of telling players exactly how Jordan feels, we design environments and mechanics that allow those emotions to be felt through interaction. Level flow, spacing, obstacles, and even moments of quiet become storytelling tools. Nowhere…
- The Architecture of Escape - 13 February 2026
Hi!We’re Tough Cookie Productions, a team of 20 student developers who came together five months ago with a shared goal: to build something unique, intentional and meaningful.If you’ve found your way here, we’re glad you did. We’re excited to begin sharing this journey with you.Back in September, when we started development on My Friend Barrington, we made an early decision as a team. With strong foundations in writing, design, art, film, and narrative and a heavier skillset in creative disciplines than technical ones, we wanted to create a game that showcased our strengths without compromising our message.Rather than chasing mechanical complexity for the sake of spectacle, we chose to build a game where art, atmosphere, and story drive the experience forward.That decision shaped everything.My Friend Barrington is a psychological 2.5D platformer set within the imagination of eleven-year…
