Hey everyone,
I’ve been digging into early versions of Pikuniku and I think there might have been an unreleased demo / prototype version of the game (possibly around 2016–2017).
From what I found, there are actual references to an early concept involving the “Worry people” and a different story direction, where you rebuild a community instead of the final game structure.
Here’s an archived version of the official site that shows this early concept:
https://web.archive.org/web/20170602133240/https://pikuniku.net/
There are also some YouTube playlists and videos that seem to show footage of a different version of the game:
Playlist 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q7WnlS5HYc&list=PLnvu1xYiI_UQwiM1-n86kTZqtqAgRY2Mh
Playlist 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCgTpknNfEs&list=PLmB8jSHSj5JshsEeElgIg0AOY9wmTqEQ2
Possible “old trailer”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvfxGqXlgSg
From what I understand, there may have been a demo build that got reworked before release, and some sources even suggest an early trailer was removed.
I know Pikuniku isn’t getting a sequel anytime soon, and honestly this early version looks like it had a lot of potential — almost like a different take on the game that I’d really want to try.
So I’m asking:
- Does anyone have more info about this early demo/prototype?
- Has anyone ever seen or played a pre-release build?
- Is there any chance a build (even incomplete) still exists somewhere?
Any help, info, or leads would be appreciated.