Indie developer Antientropic has released its debut title, Dustbunny: Emotion to Plants, now available on iOS and Android.
Dustbunny is a therapeutic decorating sim that blends the emotional core of Kind Words and the mindful decorating of Animal Crossing with principles of mental health practices, including compassion-focused and cognitive-behavioral therapies.
Driven by Founder and Creative Director Stella Kim’s personal experience with mental health support during the 2021-2023 lockdown, Dustbunny offers a safe space for players to explore their emotions.
Antientropic, an indie studio based in New York
Co-founded by Stella Kim, Minh Dinh, and Dawn Kim, Antientropic wants to craft inclusive games that foster love and reflection.
“We wanted to make a space that feels like a safe corner, like a blanket fort or a childhood bedroom – a place where you can retreat into yourself and, when you’re ready, step out to connect again.
Dustbunny came from my own mental health journey, and in finding a bit of understanding for myself, I hope to share some of that path with others.
For me, this line from Empathy captures the core of the game:’Sometimes, when loving myself is hard, I try loving small things first, like plants. I hope that one day, this love can make its way back to me’.
We wanted to offer small, gentle ways to help you reconnect with yourself, especially during times when connection feels distant or difficult.
It centers on caring for little things, a small plant, a quite space – as a reminder of the value in taking time for yourself. We have endeavored to create a space that encourages this kind of journey, where self-acceptance can grow gradually, and maybe, piece by piece, allow love to find its way back to you.”
Stella Kim, Founder & Creative Director at Antientropic Studios
Dustbunny gameplay features
Players awake in an abandoned room that reflects their character’s inner void. Guided by a friendly rabbit called Empathy, they will catch and nurture adorable emotibuns – cute creatures that represent repressed emotions – who transform into vibrant plants when captured.
By caring and tending to them, players can play minigames to earn collectibles and discover the mysteries of the room as they turn it into their own personalized sanctuary.
Players can design their perfect space by decorating with plants – including various breeds of monstera, philodendrons, alocasia, anturium, and rare unicorn and hybrid vartieties unique to Dustbunny.
Players can cater to their unique needs with over 20 interactive Care Cards like watering and observing – symbols of real-life self-care practices – to promote reflection and emotional growth. As your plants thrive and you catch more emotibuns, the player’s room becomes a cozy, comforting sanctuary that reflects their journey of emotional growth.
Dustbunny includes a range of delightful minigames and collectibles, from flying Paper Planes to unlocking and preparing new flavors of Cup Ramyun to playing the nostalgic retro Gameboi.
Each minigame provides energy that’s used for caring for your plants and also new collectibles, decorations, and stickers to personalize every part of your room.
Every aspect of Dustbunny is thoroughly informed by therapeutic principles to support self-reflection and emotional growth. Conversations with your rabbit guide, Empathy, are focused on self-acceptance and nurturing self-love, informed by compassion-focused therapy.
The many activities are centered around inner space and gentle focus as tools for healing and tending to your emotions mindfully.
Dustbunny’s release marks the completion of the development journey that has been supported by the game’s early-access players. Multiple features have been introduced and updated with the full launch, including the “Doors feature.”
This feature allows players to decorate the gateway to their sanctuary with symbols and ornaments that reflect their personal journey. Players can visit and complement each other’s room, fostering positive connection and collective healing, a core mission statement for Dustbunny and its active community.
“The Journal” has also been updated to be a more guided and directly therapeutic experience following player feedback during the Early Access period. Players can find and place expressive stickers that incorporate elements of cognitive behavioral therapy in a playful and charming way.
