Hermit and Pig Turns Social Anxiety Into the Ultimate RPG…

The video game industry is currently weathering a storm that feels less like a typical downturn and more like a total seismic shift. As we navigate the early months of 2026, industry giant Ubisoft is in the midst of a "colossal reorganization" that has led to the closure of major studios in Stockholm and Halifax, as well as the cancellation of high-profile projects like the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake. With unions calling for international strikes between February 10 and 12, the AAA space feels more volatile than ever. In the middle of this corporate chaos, a two-person team of childhood friends is preparing to release a project that feels like the perfect antidote to the "too big to fail" era of gaming.

Heavy Lunch Studio’s Hermit and Pig, set for a full release on February 5,, is an adventure RPG that trades legendary swords for mushroom foraging and world-saving bravado for the crushing weight of social anxiety. It is a self-described "cozy political thriller" that feels remarkably grounded, even when you are being chased by the "uncharacteristically violent" wildlife of its beautifully hand-drawn world.

The Horror of Being Perceived

In most RPGs, entering a town is a moment of relief—a chance to rest, restock, and chat up the local NPCs for quest markers. In Hermit and Pig, a crowded town is essentially a dungeon. The game introduces a central mechanic called "cringe damage," which directly depletes the protagonist’s health bar, or "social battery.” Instead of physical wounds from blades or fire, you take damage from awkward social interactions, failing to pick the right dialogue options, or simply being overwhelmed by the sensory input of a crowd.

The result is a game that validates the internal struggle of social anxiety by turning it into a gameplay loop that can be engaged with and eventually mastered.

For the developers, this was a chance to use game mechanics to tell a deeper story about the human condition.

"Making social anxiety something tangible felt both relatable and funny, especially as Hermit experiences some uncomfortable scenarios we’ve all been through like giving speeches, performing on stage, job interviews, etc.,” said studio co-founders Mason Dickerson and Nathan Kennedy in an email. “These ‘conversation battles’ became a great way to inject more personality, discomfort, and dumb jokes into the game all at once."

The game is designed to represent that feeling of needing to retreat to a place of solitude just to recharge your internal batteries after a long day of being perceived by the world.

Tense Combat and the Mother 3 Connection

When the Hermit is eventually forced out of his woodland solitude to help a girl from a nearby town, the "cringe damage" shifts toward physical defense. The combat system is a fascinating hybrid of turn-based strategy and real-time rhythmic execution that draws heavy inspiration from the cult classic Mother 3. Much like the Sound Battle system in that game, where players tapped to the beat of the music to land extra hits, Hermit and Pig requires players to input specific key combos from a "Wilderness Survival Handbook" to execute attacks before a turn timer runs out.

The team spent a massive amount of time fine-tuning this feel to ensure it felt like player skill was growing alongside the character.

"The battles have probably gone through the most iteration of anything in the game," the developers said. "At first, key combos were tied solely to enemy type... We gradually shifted towards a system that is more situational and intuitive."

To make these sequences easier to internalize, they designed them to reflect the actual movement: "For example, up-down-down for stomp mimics lifting your leg up and bringing it down."

For those who lack the rhythm of a professional drummer, the game is surprisingly inclusive. It features around 40 different "trinkets" that can be collected and equipped to boost stats, including some that actually deal more damage if you mess up an input. Heavy Lunch Studio has also included a "story mode" and the ability to turn off battle timers entirely, ensuring that the conspiracy-laden narrative remains accessible to a wide audience regardless of their manual dexterity.

A Pig with Personality

While the Hermit handles the social awkwardness, the true star of the show is the Pig. Far from a simple cosmetic pet or a "chaotic force of nature," the truffle-hunting Pig is a fully realized battle companion and a specialized tool for navigating the game's economy. Truffles act as the primary currency for bartering with NPCs, and the Pig grows in utility as the story progresses.

"Writing a character that doesn’t really understand the world but embraces it anyway was especially fun," the developers said, noting that the Pig eventually learns to talk to other animals and even people. "It makes Pig a perfect foil to the slightly bitter but mostly just uncomfortable Hermit."

This dynamic duo anchors the game's emotional core, providing a sense of companionship in a world that often feels hostile to the reclusive protagonist.

Gritty Foraging and "Cozy" Political Thrills

While the "cozy gaming" genre is currently dominated by clean, grid-based farming sims like Stardew Valley, Hermit and Pig leans into the "dirtier and weirder" side of nature. Influenced by niche handheld classics like Legend of the River King and the Nintendo DS cult-hit Contact, the game focuses on foraging in "misty marshes" and "lush rivers".

The game features dozens of unique mushroom types—some real, some fictional—which players track in a field guide. These fungi are used to heal, cure ailments, or even cause status effects on corporate stooges and rival truffle hunters. This focus on the grit of the forest helps build a world that feels lived-in and detailed.

"We’ve jokingly referred to the game as a 'cozy political thriller'—something that starts out cute and familiar and slowly goes off the rails, dragging the characters into weirder situations," the team explained.

This grit serves as a backdrop for a story that feels accidentally, and perhaps unfortunately, topical. The central mystery involves a local factory firing its entire workforce to bring in "shady personnel." While the plot was written years ago, the developers acknowledge the parallel to the modern industry layoffs at companies like Ubisoft. "Sadly history keeps repeating, and it’s ended up feeling relevant across a lot of current industries and events," they said.

Childhood Friends and the Path to Release

Dickerson, a professional cartoonist known for the Housecat Trouble series, and Kennedy, a senior software developer with a decade of experience, have been "scheming" together for 20 years. This shared history as childhood friends allowed them to lean into a specific brand of weird, goofy humor that defines the game's identity.

As the industry at large continues to struggle with massive restructuring and labor unrest, Hermit and Pig is a clear reminder of what a small, focused team can achieve when they prioritize creative risks and thematic depth over corporate scale. When the game finally hits Steam next week, the creators have a simple, humble plan: "Probably pop some champagne and hope nothing breaks."

For anyone who has ever felt like a dungeon boss was easier to handle than a simple conversation, Hermit and Pig might just be the most relatable and necessary RPG of 2026.