Custom Plush Keychains for Plank Builders
How Diditopia Games turned its Plank Builders characters into collectible custom plush keychains with Promo Bears
Project Overview
About Diditopia Games and Plank Builders
Diditopia Games is an independent game studio and the creator of Plank Builders, a cooperative building game inspired by childhood creativity, imagination, and building together. At the heart of the game are the Plankies: playful monkey-like characters that players can customize and use throughout the Plank Builders world. When Diditopia Games launched its Kickstarter campaign, the team wanted to give backers something physical they could take away from the digital experience. Promo Bears helped bring the Plankies out of the game and into the real world through a collection of fully custom plush keychains. Read about whether custom plush keychains are worth it in this article.
About The Project | The Product: Custom Plush Keychains
| Product type | Custom plush keychains |
|---|---|
| Character | Plank Builders’ Plankies |
| Customization | Multiple character designs based on the in-game characters |
| Use case | Kickstarter rewards and collectible merchandise |
The Challenge: turning digital characters into physical collectibles
Video game characters are designed for the screen. Plush products need to work in the real world. For Diditopia Games, the challenge was to translate the recognizable look and personality of the Plank Builders characters into small, physical plush keychains without losing the details that made them instantly recognizable to players.
At keychain size, every detail matters. Colours, facial features, proportions, accessories, and overall shape all need to be adapted carefully while still staying true to the original character design.
The goal was not to create a generic promotional item with a logo attached. Diditopia Games wanted collectible plush toy keychains that felt like genuine extensions of the Plank Builders universe.
Find more information on our Custom Plush Toys page.
The Solution:
Custom Keychains Designed Around the Characters
From game character to plush keychain
Promo Bears worked with the Plank Builders designs as the starting point for the production of the custom plush keychains. Each Planky needed to retain its distinctive personality while being adapted to a compact plush format suitable for attaching to keys, bags, backpacks, or gaming accessories.
This process involved translating the digital artwork into a physical product by carefully considering:
- Character proportions and silhouette
- Signature colours and visual details
- Facial features and expressions
- Fabric selection and embroidery details
- The attachment and construction of the keychain
The result was a series of branded plush keychains that looked and felt like miniature versions of the characters players knew from the game. If you are considering a similar mascot-style product, our Custom Mascot Costumes page shows how we translate a character’s proportions and personality into a physical product at any scale.
More than standard Kickstarter merchandise
For crowdfunding campaigns, rewards play an important role in creating excitement around a project. While digital rewards are easy to distribute, physical products give supporters something tangible to connect with the game and the team behind it. These plush keychains became more than simple merchandise. They turned the Plank Builders characters into collectible items that backers could carry with them beyond the screen.
The Results: bringing the Plank Builders world into everyday life
A physical connection to a digital game
The finished plush keychains gave Plank Builders supporters a way to interact with the game’s characters outside the game itself. Unlike traditional promotional products, a custom plush character has an immediate emotional connection with its audience. Fans already recognize the character, which means the product does not need to build that connection from scratch. The Plankies could now exist as physical collectibles, plush keychain giveaways, and memorable Kickstarter rewards.
Key Takeaways
Work with Promo Bears on your own custom plush keychains
Whether you have a game character, brand mascot, illustrated figure, or completely new concept, Promo Bears can help turn it into a physical collectible. From the first concept artwork to prototype development and final production, we create fully custom plush keychains designed around your character and brand. No stock plush shapes. No generic merchandise. Just custom-made plush keychains that bring your characters to life.
