ENTER THE MINDMIST

The Mindmist is the space where the things we carry inside begin to gather.

Thoughts. Feelings. Worries. Hopes. Half-formed ideas. Things we understand clearly, and things we cannot quite name yet.

In the OdbO world, these pieces of our inner lives drift into the Mindmist. Some remain only mist. Others slowly gather enough shape to become something more.

That is where OdbOs begin.

The Mindmist is not separate from us. It exists because we think, feel, wonder, worry, hope and carry things inside us every day.

OdbOs are little forms created from what humans carry within them.

They can come from a thought, a feeling, a worry, a hope, something unresolved, or something sitting somewhere between all of those things.

An OdbO is therefore not simply a creature that represents emotion.

It is a small part of us given form.

Something that once existed only inside the mind has become visible, recognisable and, eventually, something we can hold.

An OdbO begins with us.

Something moves through the human mind: perhaps a worry, a hope, an unnamed feeling, a thought we keep returning to, or something we do not fully understand yet.

In the Mindmist, these pieces begin to gather.

A small worry may slowly become a grey little form. A quiet hope may begin to glow. Something without a name may start to open its eyes.

When enough of what we carry comes together, it begins to take shape.

That is how an OdbO is born.

Not entirely.

OdbOs originate from us. They are born from the thoughts, feelings and in-between things that exist inside the human mind.

The OdbO world gives those invisible parts of us another form.

So although OdbOs exist as characters within the story, symbolically they are also pieces of what we carry made visible.

OdbO itself is the small grey form. A Disguise is the outer form an OdbO chooses to wear when it enters the human world.

OdbOs want to get close to their humans. They want to stay beside them, understand their world and help carry a little of the burden and hardship they may be holding.

But OdbO had a thought: how do you befriend a human when you look like a tiny grey blob from the Mindmist?

So OdbOs use Disguises.

A Disguise gives an OdbO a softer, more familiar form that a human might feel comfortable keeping close, while the OdbO underneath remains completely itself.

The idea was always created with a much bigger world in mind. There are many OdbOs, and the Bunny is only the first Disguise we have met.

Over time, different OdbOs may appear in new Disguises, each bringing new forms, personalities and collectible expressions into the OdbO world.

The Disguise may change. The OdbO underneath does not.

This OdbO was born holding on very tightly, but it had one very important thought:

How can I get close enough to my human to help carry some of what they’re holding?

OdbO wanted to stay near its human, share a little of their burden, and be there through the difficult days as well as the bright ones.

So OdbO decided it needed a Disguise.

Something soft. Something gentle. Something a human might trust enough to keep close.

And what could be purer than a Bunny?

The Bunny represents gentleness, innocence, protection and quiet courage, making it the perfect first form for OdbO to wear into the human world.

So OdbO put on its Bunny Disguise and went looking for its human.

But the Bunny was always intended to be only the beginning.

Because the Bunny is a Disguise, not OdbO itself.

The grey removable form is OdbO. Making it removable allows the character to exist independently from its outer Disguise and supports the wider vision of future Disguises as the OdbO world grows.

The removable design also changes the tactile experience. Inside the Bunny, the surrounding plush creates a firmer, more resistant squeeze. Removed from the Bunny, OdbO becomes softer and more stress-ball-style to hold directly.

So the removable design serves both the story world and the physical experience.

Not necessarily.

The wider OdbO world is built around the idea that OdbOs can be shaped by different things humans carry, and that they may eventually appear through different Disguises, designs and expressions.

The First Release introduces the first OdbO and its Bunny Disguise. It is the beginning of a much larger world.

Before OdbO revealed its face, it spent two weeks travelling through the human world.

It was watching, learning and trying to understand the strange, beautiful and sometimes heavy things humans carry through everyday life.

OdbO was searching for its human: someone it could stay beside, learn from and help carry a little of that weight with.

Throughout the pre-launch journey, OdbO was always seen from behind. Then, on the final day of the campaign, OdbO finally turned around and revealed its face.

It had found its human.

That journey became the meaning behind: OdbO was looking for its human.

It means an OdbO has found its human.

There are many OdbOs in the world. Each can be born from different thoughts, feelings and the things that sit somewhere in between, and each may eventually find the human it is meant to stay beside.

The phrase comes from OdbO’s original two-week journey through the human world, when it travelled, watched and learned about humans while searching for someone whose everyday weight it could help carry, even just a little.

On the final day of that journey, OdbO turned around, revealed its face and had finally found its human.

So when we say “OdbO has found you,” it is a little moment of recognition: an OdbO has found the human it wants to stay beside, learn from and share some of what they carry.

Help OdbO find its human.