Way Back
When Club
A self-initiated creature universe built from sketches, pixel sprites, type systems, animation, cards and a slightly overenthusiastic amount of world-building.
Ninety creatures. One very busy world.
Sketchbook oddballs became crisp pixel sprites, connected by type, family and a shared visual logic.
Building a world, one oddball at a time.
Way Back When Club grew from pencil sketches into pixel sprites, character families, animation, cards and a world with its own rules.
The characters came first. The world followed.
There are 90 named creatures across ten elemental and type groups. Some evolve, some animate, and all of them look like they belong in the same strange place.
Same world. Very different problems.
Eight creatures set the tone: different shapes, different temperaments, one shared visual world.
The full archive runs to 90 creatures. These eight show the range without turning the page into a census.
Same blob. Different problem.
One base character shifts through colour, shape and elemental detail. Every version changes; every version is still unmistakably Jelli.
The family resemblance stays put while each version takes on a different elemental personality.
They grow up. Mostly.
Four families show how a simple shape can grow, sharpen and pick up a surprising amount of attitude.
From snap to tyrant.
Early form → developed form → final form
Snap Dragon
MedragonTyrandragonSeed, bulb, trouble.
Early form → developed form → final form
Seedling
Puff BulbThorn KreeperA very short royal lineage.
Early form → final form
Caprince
CapkingMore cloud. More clout.
Early form → developed form → final form
Lash Down
Pelt DownBeat DownPaper first. Pixels later.
Five characters make the jump from loose sketches to small, readable sprites.
Rattle Skull
Sketch → sprite
The sprite keeps the oversized silhouette and the grin, then lets the grid do the tidying.
Toad Prince
Sketch → sprite
The drawing loses a few lines, but none of the expression.
Hot Ham
Sketch → sprite
Chunky shapes survive the move to pixels. So does the attitude.
Man O Volts
Sketch → sprite
The silhouette gets tighter; the energy stays gloriously unhelpful.
Seedling
Sketch → sprite
Soft, plant-like shapes become a compact sprite without losing the character’s gentle awkwardness.
Now they won’t sit still.
Animation gives the static sprites a little timing, weight and attitude.
The shapes stay readable as they move — the same character language, now with better timing.
Cards, icons and useful little things.
The characters moved into collectible cards, type symbols and the small objects that make a game world feel lived in.
Jackanapes card
The same card system gives Jackanapes a very different kind of entrance.
Normal type icon
Coin item
Magic key
Jelli dropThis got slightly out of hand.
Ninety original creatures, split into ten groups of nine. A dozen of the wider cast sit below.
A sketchbook idea with no sense of restraint.
What began as a handful of drawings became 90 characters, ten types, four evolution families, animation, cards and a pocketful of game-world objects. The scale grew; the visual logic kept it together.
