The Beloved Episodes That Inspired Creator Joe Brumm’s Last ‘Bluey’ Hurrah

In a rare interview… bluish Show creator Joe Broome, the mastermind behind the show, sat down with Shenell Dew, CEO of Halfbrick (Ninja fruit) to talk about their collaboration to make Bluey searched for the golden pen. The game’s highly anticipated release is pretty much the only dose of what’s new bluish This year, storytelling fans are treated to one of Broome’s final contributions to the beloved series he started.

The duo goes way back, when it comes to breaking down the concept of what’s next bluish In-game, Broome knew fellow Australian game studio Halfbrick was the right way to go. “They make great kinds of indie games. That was the spirit bluishBroome said of reaching out to Deo and his team to tackle the unique concept bluish“I think it’s a punk rock show in that sense. So I thought, ‘No, these guys, they’re going to make a great game.'” And that happened a few times in bluishwhere people are provided with energy through an alternative energy source. “That’s how things end well around Bluey.”

Among those that ended well were the fan-favorite episodes “Dragon” and “Escape,” in which the audience follows the Heeler family into their world of art. “In the series, we created a mechanic where kids draw, their drawings come to life, and we see them animated,” Broome said of how this idea seemed ready for a gameplay mechanism. “Rainy day outside, the whole family is around the table drawing, we will go to their drawings.”

Brom continued, “And now the story is that my father takes the golden pen, and Bluey needs it for something to do. And so there’s a quest, and there’s multiple levels, and my father’s always dodging them. My mother is the creator of all worlds, you know; she paints the worlds.”

“I’m really happy that Joe introduced the mechanics of the drawn worlds,” Dew said. “You know, the shackles were taken off. And they could create all these different prototypes, which they couldn’t do in reality.” bluish world.”

Broome added: “The beauty of these painted worlds [they are places] Where you can be really treacherous and evil, and kids love it because it’s their story and it’s a fairy tale and it’s over the top. There is no meanness or malice there. “It’s just a big, weird game they’re playing.”

Deo cited their shared inspiration: “I was really excited, actually, to have such an almost open world, you know, where Bluey could ride, because we always wanted to have some core mechanics but have a place for players to explore. I think we found a lot of really interesting mechanics from games we’d been playing in the past.” “To me, you’re looking old school,” he explained Zelda Games, top-down isometric, there’s heaps of that out there, like Mario Odyssey.”

Joe added, “What I like about the game is that it’s meant to be fun. The story I’ve written feels like the simple setup you’d get from a Commodore 64 platform – we’ve got a problem, we’ve got a villain, so let’s go get him.”

Deo continued to share how Halfbrick really wanted to honor the family dynamic that Brumm started and that families around the world have bonded over, “For me, it’s just a good old game. The whimsical worlds, the story and the characters, are wholesome. They can be irreverent sometimes. Really, there’s this kind of wholesome vibe to everything. So it’s just a fun experience.”

Broome explained how the game connects to the adventures he’s spent over a decade sharing during the show: “Bandit has a golden pen that can turn everything into gold. He’s a cross between King Midas and David Lee Roth. Yes, it’s me,” the creator shared, in one of the only times he’s acknowledged what long-time fans have come to expect, that Bandit is an extension of himself.

“I can see Joe writing himself into this story 100 percent,” Dew confirmed.

The chat also delved into Broome’s hopes for the latter bluish The release is the same as his hopes for the show. “Success for me in this game means the same as success in the series. I want to see happy kids playing this game,” said the elusive creator behind the game. bluish “And when they play it, they smile, they love it, they want to show it to their friends, they want to tell their parents about it and say, ‘Hey, I did this.’”

Watch the rest of the interview below:

Bluey searched for the golden pen It will be available on the Apple App Store on December 11 with a free trial and a one-time purchase option for all levels. It is scheduled to be released through the Google Play Store on January 10, 2026. The game is scheduled to expand to larger systems, including PC, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series

Want more io9 news? Find out when the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases are expected, what’s next for the DC Universe in film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.