POCO

I am the Lead Modeler for POCO, a click-and-point 2D/3D hybrid game released on Steam in May 2025. In addition to creating the character and prop models, I also rigged the models for animation and painted backgrounds for cutscenes. The challenge in this project was to translate the whimsical designs of the characters into 3D, while also making sure they could be pushed to the limits of animation. Characters would be squashed and stretched to achieve the cartoony animation style of the animators. Additionally, the team wanted strong character designs to contrast the pre-rendered backgrounds, and the color maps needed to be clear and readable. I decided to use the high to low poly workflow with retopology so the characters could keep their organic shapes to the best of my abilities. The limitations steered our design choices as well as my workflow. The result is a stylistic game with beautiful backgrounds and charming characters.