Unreal Engine 5 may be the best game development software for devs that seek 3D realism, but not every title has the so-called 'Unreal Engine look'. At The Game Awards 2025 in December, Kong Orange and WiredFly announced stop-motion platformer adventure, Out of Words.
They've now revealed glimpses of the paintstaking handcrafted work that's going into making the upcoming game in a pair of behind-the-scenes videos. If you're inspired to craft your own title, see our guide to getting started in game design and our pick of the best laptops for game development.
Out of Words is a two-player coop game in development in collaboration with Epic Games Publishing. It tells the story of Kurt and Karla, who are guided by older brother Prince through Vokabulantis as they search for their missing voices.
In the video above, Art Director Mikkel Maltesen talks through the process for creating the character of Prince, who plays an important role as he's the only characters with the ability to speak.
We see several iterations of the character design, from early concepts to the final model and the creation of his paint and ink-fueled motorcycle. Mikkel reveals that the team spent time working out how to convey the chracter's 'coolness' before realising that it was more about his personality than his clothing.
A second video (above) provides a more detailed dive into the craftsmanship and artistry that went into creating Prince. Senior Fabricator Sofie Kjær shares her meticulous work making the puppet, from creating the expressions on 45 unique mouth shapes and six foreheads to sewing decorative seams in the character's oversized leather jacket.
The process involved sculpting in ZBrush and rigging in Maya (see our guide to the best animation software) before 3D printing and then painting and carving by hand. Sofie notes that models for stop-motion need to be flexible but also durable enough to stand up to handling by the animators.
We've seen some striking stop-motion games recently. There was Slow Bros's Harold Halibut made in Unity, while Moonhood made The Midnight Walk in Unreal Engine 5. Also check out Räfven , whose developers are foraging for leaves to make the models.
Stop-motion animation gives games like these a tactile, human quality that digital-only art styles rarely achieve. State-of-the-art game engines allow developers to bring this traditional craft into interactive form, stitching together filmed sequences and interactive mechanics smoothly to create games that feel like multidisciplinary art pieces.
You can learn more about Out of Words on the Epic Game Store. Also check out our picks from the February 2026 Steam Next Fest.
