09 Apr Momonga Monday: Panda the Panda

It’s time for Momonga Monday, so gather around! This week we take a look at Panda, Momo’s wise and quirky mentor.
In the world of Momonga Pinball Adventures, Pandas are special animals in many ways. They are solitary nomads, wise wanderers who only meet their kind to share stories by the bonfire. They live secluded lives, and most animals never get the chance to meet one in person. They can grow very old, and are said to know the location of the Ancient Lore – which contains all of history. Panda has lived for ages as a nomad, only recently settling near the Momonga village.

During the raid on Momo’s village, Panda rushed to help any survivors. He found Momo, unconscious, and took him to his sanctuary. There he healed him. At the start of the game you help Momo get through Panda’s training.

Panda carries a big stick and a messenger bag – this is all he needs to survive. Gossip has it that the bag also contains some strange herbs with a funny smell.

Panda is a friendly old panda who is young at heart, loves dinner, and knows restoration skills like no other. He may be a bit clumsy, but he always has the best intentions.

These sketches are some early drafts of Panda:

From there he started taking the form of a friendly, old and wise panda:

We were looking for the right “vibe” to go with him. He needed to be wise and child-like at the same time, and that is a tricky combination. On the left you can see the design that we went with – no attributes except his stick, bag, glasses and shorts. Later we put more emphasis on his glasses and added more colour to his attributes (see below).

And this is the in-game model for the wise master:

Hope you like it! See you next Monday 🙂

– Peter & Derk