Toejam and Earl is finally back! We're goin' indie, and old skool like GAME ONE, with a fun retro-comics style, and plenty of funk!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
ToeJam & Earl Custom SEGA Genesis Cartridge for Charity on 10/13/2020
over 3 years ago
– Tue, Oct 13, 2020 at 03:47:35 AM
sup Earthlings, it’s us again. We’re coming with an update that y’all definitely don’t wanna miss out on!!
TOMORROW on Tuesday October 13th our friends Ryan and Elizabeth Schorman at mid49.com will be hosting an auction for a Custom ToeJam & Earl SEGA Genesis Cartridge! This is a fanmade item completely created and donated directly from Mid49.
It is an authentic functioning cartridge that will work on your SEGA Genesis console complete with lights, sound effects and even a moving arrow! (Moving arrow.. huh?) CHECK IT OUT!!!
Jammin!
Cool!
Don’t have a Genesis hooked up? Don’t worry! If your donation wins you will also get a display stand that powers the cartridge so you can witness it’s awesomeness without the need to go digging through storage for your old console!
Whoa slow down funky alien, did you say donation? That’s right, we did!
100% of the sale goes to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund! Not only do you get this super funky custom cartridge but it’s also for a good cause. Jammin!
Still not convinced you need this amount of funk in your life? Check out this nifty video our homies over at Mid49 did!
We will post another update with the link when the auction goes live on ebay this Tuesday October 13th.
Look, Look, A Cookbook!
What’s that you say, you’re hungry for more funk? Well set those Earthling stomachs to stun because our homies got lots of weird ToeJam & Earl funkiness crammed into this awesome cookbook!
Now live on Kickstarter and currently reaching its goal, The Funky Fresh Foods of Funkotron is guaranteed to come jam packed with delicious Funkotron delicacies. To celebrate Greg and his lovely wife Sirena have created a video showing one Sirena's healthy funky meals!
Wanna try a taste treat for yourself? Here's a free recipe courtesy of the @FunkyFreshBook on Twitter!
In case you missed our last update, you can check that out here where we go into details of the upcoming 1.7.0 update coming soon to all versions of ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove!
That’s all for now Earthlings, we will post another update very soon with a link to the charity event when it goes live!
Thanks for jammin’ with us. Stay funky!
-ToeJam & Earl
[1.7.0 Update] Bigger Maps, Cookbook, Secret Charity Event
over 3 years ago
– Sun, Oct 04, 2020 at 06:48:32 AM
Hey y’all! Man.. it’s been a wild summer. We hope you didn’t miss us too much. I know it’s only been a short time on Earth since we last spoke, but here on Funkotron it’s been about 3 years! Sorry about missing all those birthdays.
We hope you saved some room for FUNK after dinner tonight because our homies who made the Mother's/Legend's Cookbook just launched their Kickstarter for an OFFICIAL ToeJam & Earl inspired cookbook, complete with funky recipes for Moldy Bread and Earl's Famous Hotdog. Check it out!
That book looks good enough to eat! We hope you’ll swing by and check out their page and help spread the word. They have a lot of cool rewards for fans and they have certainly shown our funky aliens the love they deserve!
A lot of y’all are probably wondering “where are those console updates that you guys were talking about last time?” Well when Greg played the game one night to make sure everything was funky he just kept having too much fun playing and coming up with new ideas. So we kept adding and tweaking a lot of stuff. We really wanted to get all this wrapped into one giant update for all our patient console homies.
So the big highlight of 1.7.0 is an all new Fixed World with much BIGGER maps entirely handcrafted by Greg Johnson himself just like the good ol’ retro days. Random World will still use the original maps from before but we have also reduced the amount of Earthlings across the board for a more chill and relaxing experience. Here’s some more of the fun you can look forward to in the new update:
Be careful ToeJam, that Ship Piece is pretty far away!
LARGER MAPS!
Our all new Fixed World comes with bigger maps with much more interesting layouts. We also swapped out some of our smaller maps with larger ones! More to explore!
FIND THE HIDDEN POWER HATS!
Some players felt that being granted an instant buff when wearing the Power Hats made the game a little too easy, now you will have to find and catch the Power Hats hidden on the levels!
LESS EARTHLINGS RUINING THE FUN!
Having Earthlings constantly wrecking the party sure isn’t funky. How about we tone down the enemies across the board for a more fun and relaxing experience? You still better be saving your best presents for the final levels because that’s still when things get crazy!
FIND MORE OF YOUR FAVORITE PRESENTS!
You will find even more of your favorite presents and much earlier too! Previously Santa was hiding a few of the really good presents on the later levels but now you will find them much earlier in the game! But this also means you can find bad ones earlier too so be careful not to open the Major Randomizer or Total Bummer!
SMARTER EARTHLINGS!
Earthlings will now chase you to the very edges of the map and around water. Some of them will even chase you down the secret paths. Make sure you have presents with you or you might get stuck between an Earthling and a dead end!
FASTER METER CHAINS!
The Parking Meter chains have been shortened to give their rewards earlier. We also increased the animation speed so you can use them and return to the action quicker!
Included with this update will of course be everything that console players missed in the 1.6.0 update like the ability to use two presents at once for some funky new effects! You can read all about that previous update here.
1.7.0 will be available on Steam early October and will be rolling out onto all consoles late October.
Lastly we have something very special we couldn’t wait to show y’all. October 13th we will be launching a charity event where we auction off a one of a kind ToeJam & Earl item that is guaranteed to blow your minds. Created by our super fans Ryan & Elizabeth Schorman, the detail in this item is completely unmatched by anything we’ve released before. Stay tuned for more info on that!
hmmm. What could this be?
That’s all for now homies! You will be hearing from us again very shortly in October with updates on the charity event and the new patch coming soon! Makesure to check out the Funky Cookbook in the meantime!
50% Off Summer Sale, Console Updates & Puzzles for the Pandemic!
almost 4 years ago
– Tue, Jun 16, 2020 at 03:02:59 PM
sup homies?
Wanted to drop a quick update showing our roadmap for the 50% off Summer Sales, keep you in the loop regarding the console updates and showcase some funky puzzles the HumaNature Studios artists have created for charity.
First off the sales! Here are the upcoming dates for our sales.
Next, regarding the console updates that we know some fans are awaiting eagerly. We've run into some issues that have caused a delay. Rest assured we are still absolutely committed to delivering the same experience across all platforms. We truly appreciate your patience with us as we continue hard to deliver the funkiest ToeJam & Earl experience for fans ever and get as close as we possibly can to true parity across all versions of Back in the Groove.
We would like to give a huge shoutout to our engineer Jeff. Jeff has been working hard for nearly a year now operating as our sole engineer and juggling the patching process across all 4 platforms, fixing countless issues and adding amazing new features. He truly is an alien of the highest funkitude here on Funkotron. GO JEFF!
Our friends over at AdMagic reached out with this cute idea to work with our talented artists to create some puzzles. The awesome news is that $5-$10 from each puzzle (depending on the type purchased) will be donated directly to these COVID-19 Charities:
Our artists for Outta Our Shells, Ferrari & Tanta, have donated their artwork and all purchases benefit these nonprofits. Feel free to donate directly of course, or contribute to these great causes by getting yourself some fun puzzles! OH! And our friends Eddie & June have also donated their artwork from a super secret unreleased Greg Johnson project!
That’s all for now, we hope to have more news for you soon regarding the console updates, enjoy the sales and hopefully some jammin' news about the future of ToeJam & Earl. And of course we hope that you’re always staying funky and safe!!
Love,
ToeJam & Earl
Final hours for Outta Our Shells + 75% Off Sale hitting consoles!
about 4 years ago
– Tue, Apr 14, 2020 at 11:04:01 AM
sup Earthlings! Hope you had a funky Bunny Day and are staying safe and enjoying the company of your families.
Thank you for all your help making the Steam sale all it could be! We hope many new homies are enjoying the game. Just a reminder the 75% Off “Stay Home, Stay Funky” Sales start hitting consoles this week:
Xbox One - Live NOW until April 20th
Switch - Live NOW until April 20th
PlayStation 4 - 4/29/20 - 5/13/20
Steam - COMPLETED!
We also appreciate everyone that hopped back into the game to test the new update for us. In case you missed it we rolled out a pretty big update in beta form and gathered some feedback. We have now released another update which makes the 1.6.1 version complete. We will begin testing and rolling the update out to consoles shortly. Here are the notes for the final additions:
Players will now prioritize shaking objects or speaking to friendly Earthlings over using an active present (prevents teleporting/shooting while trying to shake)
Unrestricted the present pool on Levels 2-4 that weren’t unrestricted last time
Make Elf harder to catch
Fix Present Timer occasionally not showing when opening a present
New Funk-Fu + Spring Shoes synergy
Fixes to Funk-Fu + Rocket Skates
Fix Spring Shoes + Hitops not providing the proper movement speed
Players can now press the ‘Cancel’ button to fast forward through animations that play when picking up the Ship Piece and when Promoting
Players can now search while using Tomatoes, Slingshot and Funk-Fu
This is of course all combined with our previous big update to deliver the complete 1.6.1 experience. Have you been enjoying the new present synergies? No one has contacted us about finding the hidden synergies yet so they must be hidden pretty well. Remember to contact us if you find them!
Thank you everyone who responded to our last update with such kind words and best wishes on Greg's campaign. We just wanted to shoot a reminder that Greg’s new card game Outta Our Shells has just entered the last 48 hours of the campaign and he is pushing hard to reach the stretch goal to add artwork to the cards. Here is a little preview of that:
If you haven’t stopped by yet please check it out. Even if you could spread the word that would definitely help get him closer to adding these super cute pictures!
As always, stay safe and stay funky!
-ToeJam & Earl
To: Our TJE Homies, From: Greg
about 4 years ago
– Wed, Apr 08, 2020 at 11:57:41 PM
Hi Gang,
If you're getting this email it's because you backed ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove and are probably a fan of the ToeJam & Earl game series. My name is Greg Johnson and I have been making games as an indie developer since 1983. This was me back in 1986 when we released my first game, Starflight, and picture of me now.
That's me on the left!
Here is a more recent photo!
First I want to say I hope everyone is safe and healthy, tucked away at home and not feeling too much financial or emotional stress. These are very strange times we find ourselves in. I don't want to minimize the difficulties many of us face, but as with everything in life, there are probably silver linings for us to find. For example, many of us are spending much more time with our families and learning how to blend work and homelife in new ways. I hope that this brings greater long term connection and closeness into your lives.
It is with mixed feelings that I want to mention the Kickstarter I am currently running for my family and friends card game, Outta Our Shells. Some of you have backed my new project already. It feels odd to be asking for support, so needless to say, only back this if you feel you can afford to. That said, it is a game that I have confidence in and am proud of, as I have been playing it with my family and friends now for over a decade. It is a great way to get to know each other better, and for people who are not heavy-duty gamers, it's a great way to pull everyone in the household in, with laughter and simple conversation.
If you haven't already, I hope you will drop by the Kickstarter page and take a look. It's a fun page to peruse with lots of great artwork. We are entering the final stretch of the campaign with only 7 days remaining, so we would appreciate it if you could stop by or send the link around to friends.
My goal is to bring joy, laughter, and connection into people's homes with all of the games I make. If you liked ToeJam & Earl, Doki-Doki Universe, Starflight, or any of my other games, or if you enjoyed the Disney Channel Show I created, Choo Choo Soul with Genevieve, I'm pretty sure you will enjoy this card game as well, as it is all in the same light spirit.
Stay well, and stay safe, and try not to stress. Stress can lower your immune system response, so if for just that reason alone, watch some comedies, play some games and try to help those around you at home feel relaxed.
