What is "dad to the bone"?

"Dad to the Bone" Official Trailer

"As the clock strikes midnight on Ferguson's first Father's Day, he receives his first gift - A rude awakening in the form of his own father, Wallace poking his head out of a portal above him! Wallace yanks Ferguson, and the two disappear into the portal together...and find themselves in The Multiverse of Dadness! A place where Dads around the world get to spend their Father's Day maxin', relaxin', grillin' & chillin'.

Except.....all the other Dads are missing! The Multiverse has been taken over by The Allfather, and he's kidnapped everyone with the help of his Daddly Sins! Now it's up to Wallace & Ferguson to put their differences aside, and go on the ultimate mustache ride to save the Dads of the World!"

"Dad to the Bone" features 9 action-packed levels where you & a friend play as Wallace & Ferguson, an estranged father-son duo that must fight off hordes of enemies, whether it be through a violent game of catch, weaponizing their favorite garden tools, or coming together for an explosively crisp high-five!

I was responsible for the linework & colouring of the animated comic book-style cutscenes in "Dad to the Bone," creating concept art for the game's characters, designing & illustrating multiple dialogue portraits for each character, as well as creating many various 2D VFX shown during gameplay,.

Linework of the First 2 Panels in "Dad to the Bone - by Hunter Allen

Over the course of 6 comic pages, I received pencilled illustrations, and used Clip Studio Paint to illustrate crisp, high-quality linework & apply bright, bold colours throughout every panel.

Colours of the First 2 Panels in "Dad to the Bone - by Hunter Allen

I also had the task of preparing each panel to be animated by Pedro Zorilla & Brandon Reynoso of the "Dad to the Bone" dev team.

Watch the Cutscenes & Dialogue of "Dad to the Bone"

The result was a set of various cutscenes telling the game's story through a series of floating panels full of storybook-like animation and dynamic speech bubbles, complete with an original soundtrack composed by Brother Jon, and an engaging narration voiced by Bert Canete.

Character Portraits: Wallace - Hunter Allen

I also designed dialogue portraits for all three of the game's main characters, each set of portraits displaying a range of emotions & reactions.

Character Portraits: Ferguson - Hunter Allen

These portaits were implemented alongside in-game dialogue. The portraits were also used in the game's UI alongside various character & enemy health bars.

Character Portraits: The Allfather - Hunter Allen

Lastly, but not leastly, on top of assisting in the design of Wallace & Ferguson, I had the privilege of designing the game's

Dad-stardly main antagonist - The Allfather, whose design is based off Odin, the ultimate bad dad.

Donning his Winged Beer Hat while clasping onto an ever-changing Foam Finger Spear, The Allfather is one of my favorite

character designs of all time, and has inspired me to further pursue opportunities in Character Design & Concepts.

Character Portraits: Enemies - Hunter Allen

Throw in portraits of a multitude of bosses & enemies, and the collection comes to total of 25 different portraits.

Scroll further down to the Character Portrait Gallery to get a closer look at all the portraits I designed.

Early Concept Art of The Allfather, Wallace & Ferguson - Hunter Allen

HUD Design/2D VFX - Hunter Allen

In addition to the portraits, I created much of the game's UI with colorful & cartoony 2D VFX

HUD Design/2D VFX (cont.) - Hunter Allen

These 2D VFX helped drive home the wacky nature of a game featuring Dads fighting Cig-guards & Pro-Pain Tanks.

Collaborations

"Dad to the Bone" Theme Song - Brother Jon

"Brother Jon" Ingham was responsible for composing a killer soundtrack that perfectly encapsulates the feeling of a Dad just wanting to relax on his special day.

Over the course of 15 tracks, the album is filled with references to deliciously cheesy Dad Rock, with Brother Jon providing his own special twist on the genre.

The entire "Dad to the Bone" team can testify to listening to the soundtrack for inspiration when working on the game.

"Dad to the Bone" was Brother Jon's first full length album as a composer, and is considered by many to be a stellar beginning to what will surely blossom into a lucrative career.