Devsisters USA debuted Last Cookie Standing, a web series CookieRun Kingdom spinoff that blends the mobile game’s standout personalities with reality TV and a glittering cast of voice actors, including Genshin Impact and Like A Dragon stars. The first episode is live now, and GLHF spoke with director Vi Viet about the process of transforming CookieRun into a survival show.
While Last Cookie Standing is ostensibly a game show, it also weaves in elements of comic book style, visual novel presentation, and traditional animation. It follows 13 cookies stranded on the Tropical Soda Islands and forced into competition to see who the last one standing is. Genshin Impact‘s Amber Lee Connors stars as Rye Cookie, while Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth‘s Yong Yea brings the Madeleine Cookie to life.
“The aim was to highlight the diverse personalities of our Cookies without the restrictions of the canon story,” Viet says. “This format would provide an immersive space where fans can engage in discourse and see Cookies in environments and situations they wouldn’t expect.”
If that sounds a lot like Survival, you’re not wrong. Viet tells me Survivor was a significant influence on the project, and the writing team cast a broad net, looking to Total Drama Island, anime, and pretty much anything for inspiration, no matter how unorthodox it seemed.
“Some of the most memorable times in the writer’s room were when someone would throw out a silly reference that would snowball into a final idea,” Viet says.
Making the series a game show was a natural fit for that aim. The team wanted a concept that was as inclusive as possible, as CookieRun fans tend to see themselves in the series’ characters, Viet says. Game shows are “low stakes, high drama” with plenty of opportunity for every character to play an important role and give viewers someone to cheer for.
Not that giving every character a starring role came easily. Viet says one of the biggest obstacles came from creating 13 dynamic personalities strong enough to carry a show. Viet said the finished product was worth the challenge, though.
“As the executive producer and director, I have had to be hands-on in all aspects of production. Orchestrating this has been both challenging and extremely rewarding. It has been an awesome journey with the team.”
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
