Home / News / Indie Spotlight – Huntbound brings beautifully designed, action-packed monster hunting adventures

Indie Spotlight – Huntbound brings beautifully designed, action-packed monster hunting adventures

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Huntbound Gameplay

  • Huntbound is a 2D action-packed co-op RPG that features easy-to-learn mechanics, deep progression, along with strategy elements.
  • Lincoln Charlles, the founder of Tao Team Games, shared interesting insights into the game’s inspiration, their challenges, plans for post-launch, and more.
  • The game is launching on February 4, 2025, with pre-registration now available on Google Play Store.

Tao Team is gearing up to launch, Huntbound on Android on February 4, 2025. This game combines action, strategy, and multiplayer elements with crafting mechanics, intense monster battles, and an immersive RPG world. Developed by a self-funded and self-published team, this well-crafted game showcases unique monsters, vibrant habitats, and more, delivering an engaging and enjoyable gameplay experience.

Game Overview

Huntbound is a 2D co-op RPG that seamlessly blends action, strategy, and multiplayer gameplay elements, inviting you to play as a Hunter to fight against ferocious creatures and prove yourself as the ultimate hunter. Whether you decide to venture out solo or team up with up to three players, the game offers a thrilling Monster Hunter-like gameplay experience.

Huntbound Gameplay (Image via Tao Team)

You can explore diverse habitats, packed with secrets and valuable resources, hunt for mystical monsters with unique patterns and abilities, and collect rare materials from your victories to craft powerful weapons, armor, and potions.

With beautifully designed, action-packed adventures, customizable avatars, and gear, engaging co-op quests, challenging monster hunts, a real-time combat system, and more, it combines everything perfectly together to deliver a well-rounded gameplay experience for modern gamers.

Why you should play Huntbound

  • This 2D RPG incorporates action, strategy, and multiplayer gameplay experience.
  • Minimalistic cartoony aesthetic and beautifully designed, action-packed adventures to take part in.
  • Features unique monsters with challenging patterns and abilities to fight against in real-time battles.
  • An engaging gameplay experience with both solo and multiplayer gameplay and easy-to-learn mechanics.

From concept to creation: Developer Insights

In a conversation with GamingonPhone, Lincoln Charlles, the founder and developer at Tao Team Games, a self-funded studio from Brazil, shared important details about Huntbound during our discussion. He shared valuable insights behind the game’s inspiration, the idea of blending all the elements, developmental challenges, and much more.

Lincoln Charlles and Fraciane Martini, Co-founders of Tao Team Games
Lincoln Charlles and Fraciane Martini, Co-founders of Tao Team Games (Image via Tao Team)

While discussing the studio and its founders’ backgrounds, Mr. Charlles introduced himself as the founder and developer, mentioning his co-founder, Fraciane Martini, who serves both as a Legal Manager and an Artist.

He shared, “I have over 10 years of experience studying and creating games, but I’ve always worked as a teacher and tattoo artist while living in Brazil.” He further revealed that his co-founder, Fran holds a law degree and has experience in the legal field for years. “But she’s also passionate about the artistic world of tattoos,” he added.

Interestingly, their initial goal was to develop the game within six months. “And surprisingly (for the gaming world), we met that expectation!” he said. They successfully delivered a polished, playable online product.

He elaborated, “we plan to release monthly updates with new maps, gear, monsters, and quests.” According to him, the simplicity and modularity of the game make these consistent updates achievable.

The inspiration behind Huntbound

We began the conversation by exploring the inspiration behind the creation of the game. Mr. Charlles shared that they drew significant influence from the Monster Hunter and Dark Souls series, quickly clarifying, “don’t worry—Huntbound isn’t as hard!

Huntbound Inspiration
Huntbound Inspiration (Image via Tao Team)

He explained that during their search for mobile games with similar mechanics, they “found a lot of discontinued or region-locked titles.”He noted that the core gameplay loop of “hunt, craft, prepare, repeat just wasn’t available” for quick, free moments during old times.

This gap in the gaming market inspired them to create Huntbound. To make their project feasible, he shared, “we planned carefully and built the game with modularity in mind.

Developmental challenges and how the studio overcame them

When asked about the team’s developmental challenges and how they overcame them, he shared their journey, saying, “We began our journey by creating a game called Benders of Moona, initially envisioned as an exploration game.

However, testers consistently requested PvP features, leading them to change it into a fighting title. He revealed that to deepen their understanding of multiplayer PvP and co-op gameplay, the studio “embarked on a project that could be easily and quickly updated over the years.

Huntbound Character customization
Huntbound Character customization (Image via Tao Team)

Through this project, they learned “how to self-publish an online game and manage a thriving community.” He emphasized that as a self-funded and self-published studio, “every lesson we’ve learned came from our own mistakes and the natural challenges of a self-taught journey.

The Diverge range of monsters players will encounter

The real stars of the game are the monsters!” he remarked. He elaborated on the gameplay, explaining that “players must understand their behavior, habitat, routes, and reactions to actions,” to succeed.

He revealed that each monster features unique move sets, stats, and elemental traits, setting them apart from one another. “Mastering these is key to successfully hunting them, crafting their equipment, and adding it to your extended customization library,” he emphasized.

An engaging multiplayer co-op experience for both casual and hardcore players

Mr. Charlles revealed that they are introducing an Infinite Survival Mode designed for hardcore players. He shared that they were inspired by Vampire Survivors, and added this mode allows “high-ranking players to compete on leaderboards.

He added that with the addition of this mode, they are “offering plenty of content for players to explore, receive help, and assist others,” further enhancing the gameplay experience for both casual and hardcore players.

Huntbound Multiplayer co-op experience
Huntbound Multiplayer co-op experience (Image via Tao Team)

When discussing the community features, he explained the studio’s approach behind it for the game. “Our approach with Huntbound was to create a low-commitment RPG where interacting with the community is easy but controlled,” he shared.

As a fan of the Dark Soul series, he revealed that its communication system inspired him, adding it “uses gestures to create meaningful and heartfelt player interactions.” Being a Souls fan myself, I was quite excited to hear his admiration for the series.

Studio’s launch expectations and post-launch plans

He mentioned that at launch, the game will future one map and four species of monsters, revealing, “This is the same amount of content each monthly update will add.” He explained that they plan to release monthly updates for a year, stating “We’ll have enough content to declare the game complete, avoiding unnecessary bloating that could overwhelm new players.”

Additionally, they plan to keep the game fresh with ongoing updates, “including new modes, quality-of-life improvements, and events to keep longtime players engaged,” he concluded.

With the interview coming to an end, we had a good discussion about the studio’s expectations for the game’s reception and I also asked him about the studio’s plan to reach a broader audience, to which he responded, “We know our game caters to a niche audience, so our efforts in accessibility and localization focus on expanding this niche and bringing new players to the genre.

Huntbound Expectation for game's reception
Studio’s Expectation for game’s reception (Image via Tao Team)

With great confidence, he shared that the studio is positive that their “gameplay loop will resonate with many mobile players worldwide.” He also revealed plans to attract more audience to the game.

He mentioned the basic marketing strategies of the studio, including trailers, gameplay videos, and press emails. On top of that, he noted that they “plan to port the game to iOS/iPhone to expand its audience and reach more player.”

Final Verdict from the Editor

With pre-registration open, Huntbound appears to be a fun and engaging co-op action RPG designed for up to four players. It offers action-packed adventures and various challenges, and I found the game quite engaging, after getting my hands on its early access.

The game has something for both solo players and people who love multiplayer gameplay. I liked the crafting mechanics and the challenging monster battles in the vibrant cartoony world. With its minimalistic cartoony visuals, exciting co-op quests, unique monsters, powerful gears, and more, this is a must-play title for anyone who wants to enjoy the Monster Hunter-like gameplay experience with real-time combat.

If you want to experience this co-op game with your friends, then you can pre-register for it from the Google Play Store and download it on February 4, 2025.

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