FOR THE ART OF GAME DESIGN

We love games that focus on delivering unique experiences. Games that trust the player, challenge them in novel ways, and push against convention and expectations.

Unto The End, our debut title, is out now on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Stadia, and Switch!

“A masterclass in unceremonious restraint.”

- Vice

"An experience that doesn't quite fit inside a specific genre... From beginning to end Unto The End is immensely rewarding and captivating."

- Screen Rant

“This fighting mechanic is utterly unique to me and offers possibly one of the most rewarding adventures in recent memory.”

- Pure PlayStation

“A beautiful and substantive experience that rewards perseverance, calm nerves, and is absolutely worth your time.”

- Darkstation

“pls dont buy, its hot garbge”

- Cidris Quent

“Unto The End is a game unlike anything you’ve ever seen … a challenge that is rewarding with each victory.”

- Life Is Xbox

“Unto The End is not an easy game, but it is only as hard as you make it for yourself.”

- The Sixth Axis

“Something this stunning simply shouldn't exist, yet it does, and it's magical.”

- EXBEE

The combat

We worked hard to capture the feeling of melee combat without it being a sword fighting simulator. The sweaty palms, “oh no!” moments, and back and forth of a great fight. You can drop your sword, bleed to death from your wounds, and win or lose every fight in 2 or 3 hits. Success is all about staying calm and making the most of your opportunities.

Every creature you meet is as smart and capable as the player’s character - there for a reason, never just some “evil enemy”. Each with their own fighting style - we don’t have simple enemies and then a boss. 

"You approach each fight with trepidation and you focus on the combat rather than just hammering out the same old combinations of attacks. It looks fantastic and the lore of the game world is very intriguing.

Button mashers need not apply!"

- ALPHA BETA GAMER

An adventure

More than anything else we want Unto The End to feel like an adventure. We designed a lot of Unto while traveling through countries where we didn’t speak the language and didn’t know anyone else. 

We did a lot of exploring when on those travels, often getting off the beaten path and lost in nature. That feeling of being alone and unsure, making tough decisions, and overcoming challenges, is, to us, what adventure is all about.

Unto The End has a simple story: get back home to your family. You’re a warrior that’s decent with a sword, not a trained knight or legendary hero. We wanted gameplay to be about the player, their observations and actions. 

Choosing not to fight

Difficulty is designed into gameplay. You can make it to the end without fighting anything - running, stealing, trading, using items, interacting with the environment, helping those in need, and leaving some innocents to fend for themselves. Being observant and careful, exploring the nooks and crannies of the world, gives you more tools to work with, opening up alternatives to fighting.

The challenge of fighting comes from skillfully reading and reacting, not reflexes. We have a ‘Combat Assist’ setting that allows players to slow down the action just during combat moments. It gives them more time to read and react while still offering a challenge.

If you’re interested in learning more about Unto’s combat system, damage model, armour and so on, we wrote a Combat Handbook - it’s a bit like an old school instruction manual, if you remember those :).

Special thanks!

Unto The End would not be what it is without the brilliant work of Francesco Ameglio who went above and beyond the role of sound designer to envision and realise a one of a kind sonic experience.

And to Johnny Knittle, whose outstanding work as Unto’s composer demanded saint-like patience and perseverance. Sticking with us from the early days right until the very end.

Lastly, to our friends and family, for always believing in us. Making Unto has required many sacrifices and stretches of isolation. Thanks for all the love and support every step of the way.

"The work of a husband and wife team, which makes the richness of ideas and the gorgeous animations all the more impressive."

- ROCK, PAPER, SHOTGUN

We worked hard to make something different. Unique combat, no HUD, sword fighting action with cinematic pacing, and a story told in a way that only games can. An experience that plays unlike anything else. We hope you enjoy it.

Stephen Danton

DESIGNER, DEV, ARTIST

For as long as I can remember I’ve enjoyed designing experiences. As a kid I loved taking things apart and trying to make them better - electric cars, joysticks, remote controls. I also played a ton of Master System, SNES and Genesis. Zillion, Zelda, Punch-Out!!, Flashback made me fall in love with games. In school I studied computer science, interaction design, and took my university’s first ever game design class. 

Before starting 2 Ton Studios, I worked at Microsoft for 12 years. I started as a user experience designer and left as a principal concept architect. On the side, I made games. For me, games are the ultimate creative medium - there are no rules as to what a game can or should be. And that’s why I love them.

Sara Kitamura

DESIGNER, ARTIST

I grew up drawing, painting and studying art. As a kid, some of my favourite memories are of playing games on my parent’s old Macintosh. My dad had a bunch of games on FLOPPY DISKS and one of them was ‘Beyond Dark Castle’. It took us weeks to beat it. After that I was hooked.

If you had asked me then, I wouldn’t have guessed that one day I’d be making games. After university I did a bunch of things from nonprofit fundraising to running an interior design business. At first, making games was a fun side project. But as I started to see our ideas and concepts come to life, I knew I had to give it my all. That was in 2015 and we haven’t looked back since :).