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An upcoming action RPG called NIGHTIN CAGE has seen a dramatic increase in Japanese Steam Wishlists following the viral spread of its ladder climbing animation.
The game is being developed single-handedly by creator GRIS灰白 (GRIS), who recently shared in-development footage showing the game’s heroine climbing a ladder. After receiving criticism that the original animation looked “unnatural,” GRIS released an updated version that smoothed out the movement while maintaining certain physics elements. Both versions of the animation went viral, particularly in Japan.
Made the ladder climbing feature in the game. Check it out!#gamedev #indiegame #rpg #nightincage pic.twitter.com/p0qLX6xc4Z
— NightinCage (@NightinCage) January 7, 2026
According to GRIS in an interview with AUTOMATON, Japanese Wishlists increased from approximately 300 to 5,000 after the ladder video circulated online. While GRIS chose not to share exact figures for other regions, they confirmed that Wishlists from Japan exceeded those from the United States—an unusual outcome for indie games.
“These numbers are considered huge for a solo-developed indie game which doesn’t even have a demo out yet,” GRIS said. “The number of Wishlists from Japan surpassed Wishlists from the US, which both exceeded my expectations and was an outcome completely contrary to industry norms.”
GRIS shares in-development clips to gather direct feedback from players and determine what works best for different scenarios. Though relatively new to game development, GRIS brings approximately 10 years of experience from the art industry, having previously worked on 3D character designs for Mabinogi: Heroes.
“I may be a rookie developer, but I’m a very experienced artist,” GRIS explained. “I always try to seriously judge what kind of change could benefit the work itself and the things I’m personally pursuing.”
The developer cited NieR: Automata and Stellar Blade as major influences for NIGHTIN CAGE. However, GRIS noted that directly copying the acrobatic ladder climbing movements from games like NieR: Automata wouldn’t fit naturally with NIGHTIN CAGE’s characters. At the same time, standard ladder climbing animations seemed too plain, leading to the creative approach that ultimately gained attention. NIGHTIN CAGE is currently in development for PC via Steam.
