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- Israeli Indie #5 - Toodee and Topdee
Israeli Indie #5 - Toodee and Topdee
Toodee and Topdee took the world by storm with its clever genre mashup—but behind it is Diet Zribi, a small Israeli duo who turned a jam idea into a global indie hit. Here's the story behind it, and what's next!
Toodee and Topdee
In 2018, Israeli brothers Gonen and Ori Gutholtz took on a bold challenge during Ludum Dare 41—a 72-hour game jam with the theme "Combine Two Incompatible Genres." Under the team name Diet Zribi, they set out to merge two vastly different gameplay styles: a 2D platformer and a top-down puzzler. Gonen handled the art and programming, while Ori composed the music and contributed to game design. |  Ori (left) and Gonen Gutholtz |
The result was Toodee and Topdee, a clever genre-bending game where players switch between Toodee, who explores the world as a side-scroller, and Topdee, who navigates the same environment from a top-down perspective. The innovative mechanic created intricate puzzles and challenging platforming, and the game became an unexpected hit. Out of 3,045 entries, it placed 15th overall, drawing praise for its creativity and unique design.
The success inspired the duo to turn the prototype into their first commercial release, launching Toodee and Topdee under the Diet Zribi banner. Two years later, they released another game, TROUBLE JUICE, a side-scrolling shooter-roguelike. These days, Gonen is working on a new and innovative game called UVSU and Ori is studying filmmaking.
Toodee and Topdee is available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and Playstation.
TROUBLE JUICE is available on Steam.
We caught Gonen to talk about his experience, read the full interview below:
Comparison between the game jam version to the full game by DietZribi