Ape Out is an intense and colorfully stylized smash ‘em up about primal escape, rhythmic violence, and frenetic jazz. Build up nearly unstoppable momentum and use your captors as both weapons and shields to crush everyone on your procedurally generated path to freedom. Find your rhythm in the chaos as a dynamic soundtrack of drums, cymbals, and decapitations drive the action to the edge of mayhem.
Development on Ape Out begann when Cuzzillo entered into game development courses at New York University (NYU), where he also worked on an independent study with Bennett Foddy. Foddy contributed to Ape Out’s art, while Matt Boch, an associate professor for NYU’s Game Center, worked on the game’s music system and sound design. Ape Out was part of the NYU Game Center Incubator and partially financed by Indie Fund. Publisher Devolver Digital announced their involvement in Ape Out in March 2017, when they released a playable trailer.
Exhibition Tour: Intro
Inspiration
24.02.2014
First Commit
25.03.2014
FuckingTheCraziestBug
- gameplay
- implemented movement (controller)
- vision is limited to a cone
- walls cut through cone and further limit vision
- graphics
- mockup graphics
- character has heads instead of hands
- other
- bug: walls don’t work as intended
01.04.2014
Two Player Mode
07.05.2014
Playable Stealth Game
- gameplay
- added enemies
- player can grab enemies
- enemies shoot player when in sight
- player dies from one shot (stealth gameplay)
- vision is properly limited by walls
- graphics
- mockup graphics
15.07.2014
APEOUT!
- gameplay
- added mines (explode on walk-over)
- graphics
- player is now a gorilla
- walls have an outline on the ground
- first colour-scheme
02.09.2016
Beta
- gameplay
- removed mines
- destroyable windows
- added enemy with shotgun
- removed cone view
- player has three lives (action gameplay)
- graphics
- more stylized graphics
- other
- music and sounds changed towards bass and drums
- adden menu
- added highscore table
06.02.2017
Matt joins
03.2017
Playable Trailer
28.04.2018
Bennett joins
08.2018
Music & Art Polish
- gameplay
- added unarmed enemy
- added exploding enemy
- added steel door
- player is subject4 (minor storytelling)
- graphics
- improved effects
- other
- menu screen with vinyl covers
- level selection
- dynamic drums as music (changes pace as the gameplay does)
28.02.2019
Release
- gameplay
- enemies fire their weapons once after being grabbed
- removed unarmed enemy
- added levels
- graphics
- improved effects
- other
- some more audio polishing
- vinyl level selection gone
- removed subject4 story (less storytelling)