Monster head-turner GNAH changes name to GNOG
Someone pass the Eggnog – or just the GNOG, if you're feeling saucy. Montreal gaming collective KO-OP Mode has changed the name of its new puzzle game from GNAH to GNOG because of a trademark dispute over the original title. KO-OP Mode tweeted the name change and co-founder Saleem Dabbous broke it all down in an email to Joystiq:
"We changed the name since there was a trademark dispute with a company that owned the mark 'GNAH,' so we decided to go with GNOG, which is short for gnoggin (the "G" is silent). It's always difficult to change the name of something you love, but GNOG has really grown on us after a few months of secretly using it, and it's hard to look back."
GNOG is a blend of Rubik's Cube puzzles and Polly Pocket, where players explore the miniature worlds within the heads of themed creatures, clicking and pulling on the inside of a head to impact the face and vice versa. During the Horizon conference at E3 2014, KO-OP Mode showed off a new version of the game, playing through a series of giant floating monster heads.The monsters included one shaped like a boat with lifesavers as eyes, and a rotating ship's wheel and cabin on the inside of the nautical monster's head. See a short, off-screen video of that monster below.
"The game itself is in a constant state of iteration and flux as we experiment non-stop with new ideas, art, mechanics, and controls – we're getting pretty close to where we're really happy with the look and feel of everything so we're pretty excited!"
On the downside, Dabbous said, all of that experimentation means that the release date isn't moving forward any time soon. GNOG is due out by Q4 2015 on Steam for PC, Mac and Linux.
[Image: KO-OP Mode]
