How I put the real Haru and Dako into the game

August 31, 2026 · Matt Zhu

Haru & Dako: Going Home is not a game with pet artwork pasted on top. It started from the real Haru and the real Dako, and grew outward from there.

At the very beginning, all I wanted was to put two particular animal friends into a game: Haru is my cat, Dako is a friend's dog. They exist in my life and in my memory, with their own personalities, habits and ways of expressing themselves. I hoped that one day I could preserve them in a game, and let more people meet them.

Haru is a slightly aloof, elegant Siamese. She does not always come to you, but you always know she is there. She is quiet and sharp-eyed, and sometimes it feels like she is off to one side observing everything. There is a little distance in the way she moves and looks at you — which is exactly why the moments she does choose to come close feel so valuable.

Dako is a playful, high-energy Shiba Inu. He is more direct and more openly enthusiastic. There is usually a bit of clumsiness and a lot of joy in whatever he is doing, as if he is permanently about to discover something new. As my friend's dog he left me a lot of vivid impressions: lively, mischievous, curious, and always able to lighten the room.

Finding stories about Haru and Dako in the stickers

The stickers came from the same place. With animals you actually live with, most of what you remember is not big events — it is small moments: an expression, a gesture, a habit, some piece of personality that comes out naturally when they are around people. I wanted to turn those moments into something collectible, so players discover them a little at a time.

The story is not a straight copy of real life either; it extends from who Haru and Dako are and what they do. Reality gave me the core of the characters. The game gave them a world to adventure in, explore, and grow up in.

What I hope you see in there is not just two cute animals, but two friends with personality, with a story, with a sense of company. They came from real life, and in the game they got a new journey.

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