Sound, Feel, and Better Test Labs
Studio Update 04
May 2026
In the last studio update, we had just gotten the first sounds wired into the build. That was a big milestone, but it was also the point where the work started getting more interesting.
Since then, we’ve been working on the less visible layer underneath the moment-to-moment action: the systems, tools, and tuning passes that help the game feel clearer, cleaner, and more responsive.
Building out the sound engine
The sound engine has become one of those pieces of the project that looks simple from the outside and gets complicated very quickly once you start doing it properly.
It is not just “play this sound when this thing happens.” The system has to think about priority, timing, overlap, repetition, volume, and what should happen when several game events are trying to make noise at the same time. The goal has been to keep the sound satisfying even with lots of complexity.
That work matters because sound changes how the game feels. A sound that is a little too late can make an action feel mushy. A sound that is too loud can make the moment feel more chaotic than it really is. A sound that repeats too much can get annoying fast. The goal is not more sound. The goal is better feedback.
We want the sound to support the action without turning into a distraction. When it is working, it should help the gameplay feel juicy and not get in the way.
Refining the feel
This has also been a stretch of development focused on feel in the broader sense.
For us, that means looking at all the little places where the game either feels good in your hands or starts to fight you. Timing, motion, feedback, responsiveness, spacing, and readability all affect that. Sometimes we need to add details, and sometimes we need to strip details away.
That is the kind of tuning we have been working through: not just whether a feature works, but whether it feels right during gameplay.
The test labs are becoming their own thing
The test labs started as a practical need: we needed a faster way to isolate specific parts of the game and test them without running through the whole build every time.
They have turned into something much more useful than that.
At this point, the labs are becoming a robust internal toolset on their own. We can set up controlled tests for motion, timing, sound, visual feedback, spacing, and other details that are hard to judge when everything is happening at once. Instead of guessing from a full play session, we can pull one problem into a simpler environment and really look at it.
That has been especially useful for sound. We can test how feedback lands, how sounds overlap, what feels too repetitive, and what disappears when the action gets busier. Sometimes an isolated sound is satisfying, but when layered, it becomes distracting.
It has also been extremely useful for movement. The Motion Lab lets us study rhythm, spacing, acceleration, and readability in a more repeatable way. Some of the short clips we have been sharing come from that kind of work: simple controlled setups where we can see what feels smooth, what feels awkward, and what needs another pass. It has been fun to tweak the settings and see how quickly the flow changes.
The nice surprise is that these labs are not just debugging tools anymore. They are becoming part of how we design. They make it easier to ask better questions, test ideas faster, and keep the work grounded in what the game actually feels like instead of what we think it should feel like.
What we’re testing next
The next round of work is still centered on the systems behind the feel of the game:
Sound timing and balance
How audio behaves during busier moments
Movement rhythm and readability
Visual feedback that helps without covering up the action
Small polish passes that make the game feel cleaner and more responsive
This is the kind of work that takes a lot of iteration. It is easy to underestimate because the changes can be small, but the difference in the game can be huge. A better-timed sound, a cleaner movement pattern, or a clearer bit of feedback can make the whole thing feel more confident.
Follow Along
We’ll keep sharing studio updates here as the project develops.
We’re also posting short behind-the-scenes clips on YouTube, including some of the motion tests and progress moments from our internal labs.
YouTube: @KoalabuHQ
Email list: koalabu.com/join
Thanks for following along. More soon.