From Tony Dorito - Lead Programmer,

One of the most asked questions we get about Ferret Scoundrels is: “Why ferrets?”. So I thought it was high time to reveal the romantic origin story of Ferret Scoundrels.

Well, it all starts with a cruddy 80s movie called BeastMaster... (Hear me out)

In the movie, the ‘beast master’ communes with nature and gains many animal friends that accompany him on his journey… two of which are a couple of ferrets named Kodo and Podo.

There is one part of the movie, (featured in the trailer above) in which the ferrets are bringing the locked up beastmaster some keys for his escape. Their joyful stealing and bouncing with the keys and coming to help right in the nick of time is something that stuck with me throughout my life.

So, if you have ever done an unprompted nicety to me that was dearly needed, you would likely have been pronounced a ferret on the spot.

Ferreting:

verb (used with object)

fer·ret, fer·ret·ed, fer·ret·ing.

1 to happily arrive with aid:

they ferreted the mechanic a wrench

I’ll ferret you some water, brb

I like to think that, in that way, we are all ferrets at heart… and those that aren’t, should try it sometime.

Well years passed and they have been some of the hardest years of my life. Developing video games takes heart and soul, as well as years off of your life (in both meanings of the phrase). I grew old, and I grew tired.

Then I met her… and not just someone, but my someone.

She is one of the sweetest and nicest people I have ever had the good fortune to meet, and as kind as she is, she is equal parts cunning and mischievous. A dangerous concoction that would inevitably lead to her being called a ferret. She took to the nick name of ferret immediately because she enjoyed the story so much.

See, the thing was… She really is the one and only ferret for me as far as I am concerned. She’s my ferret because she came out of nowhere right into my life when I needed her the most, all with a skip in her step and a smile.

On her birthday, each year, I have made games for her, as my handiwork was at times all that I could afford to give, given my status of a starving and humble indie game developer.

The birthday before last, she was gifted Ferret Scoundrels, which is the very same game you can play today ( granted we have done a lot of work on it since - like adding quests and adding more content).

The reason why it was a pirate game started because of Sea of Thieves. We were so excited to play it when it came out, we bought pirate hats; and buying a game and ‘cheapest on amazon’ hats is something I rarely have funding to do. After a disappointing launch (mechanically leaving much to be desired) and finding out that it was windows 10 only (as I don’t have the money to upgrade my computer let alone hers too), our pirate hats went unworn. This simply would not do. So I set out to create Ferret Scoundrels so we could put those hats to good use terrorizing the high seas as cute ferrets.

After giving the game to her, she said it was too good to not share with others, so I brought it to my company and we went into early access and have been working together on it ever since. We wanted to share our story with you this Valentines Day, and to share the game with you, so we have it discounted 75% off on steam. It’s still in early access and we are planning on adding a lot more to the game in the coming months.

Ferret Scoundrels is more than just a game for me and it’s more than just a passion project. Because I’m a programmer and not a poet, Ferret Scoundrels is my ballad written for someone that I care about very deeply. It’s an open love letter that you can all share in, as it was something that was painstakingly made with love.

Happy Valentines Day!

I love you ferret, Happy Valentines Day!

-Tony Dorito