The Chronicles of Yarnia: A CubeCat Update

The Cat Came Back…

Few Saturn homebrew projects have had quite the evolution of 7Shades’ CubeCat. What began as a modest experiment by a programmer learning his way around Saturn development has steadily grown into one of the platform’s most ambitious 3D homebrew projects.

If you don’t like reading, click HERE to jump straight to latest update info…

We first spoke with 7Shades about CubeCat back in 2021, when the project was still very much a work in progress. At the time, he described his approach as a gradual process of learning what he could accomplish, one small technical hurdle at a time. The concept itself was born from a desire to create the kind of 3D exploration platformer that Saturn seriously lacked during its commercial life, taking inspiration from games such as Mario 64 and Spyro.

From Learning the Saturn to Pushing it…

By the time SHIRO! caught up with him at PRGE 2023, the project had undergone a substantial technological transformation. 7Shades had spent roughly a year and a half rebuilding much of the game’s rendering technology, moving away from relying on the standard SGL (Sega Graphics Library) to developing a much more customized rendering pipeline of his own.

This hard work resulted in a Saturn capable of pushing surprisingly large 3D environments, long draw distances, transparency effects, and dynamic camera movement while maintaining a respectable frame rate. Now, 7Shades is taking yet another significant step forward, as he jump-dashes his way to Yarnia…

Welcome to Yarnia…

On May 11, 2026, 7Shades submitted a brand-new demo of the game, CubeCat: Yarnia Demo, to the SegaXtreme 31st Anniversary Homebrew Showcase. Rather than simply presenting another technical showcase, this new demo gives us a much clearer look at the direction 7Shades now has in mind for the game’s full eventual release.

According to SHIRO!’s own Nick aka Pandamonium, the latest demo immediately demonstrates just how far CubeCat has come…

“Like before, we have a heavy amount of polygons rendering with a good frame rate. Level of detailed draw distance is put to great use, adjustable to the player if you want to sacrifice frames to the [poly]GON-gods.

This demo takes place in an all new level, showing how 7Shades is now implementing characters you can talk to who give you missions. Complete a mission to win a sacred stitch. (Think orb missions in Spyro 2. It’s kind of like that…) We also get a glimpse of how portals will work, transporting us to a cave area in this demo. This specific area is not complete.

Like before, you can jump, double jump, pounce enemies, and pounce above ground for an airborne dash. Yarn balls spawn at these thread spool wells. CubeCat can hold them in its mouth, throw them onto platforms, and bounce off of them for a big jump. Watch out for those pesky CubeRats… Like before, VDP2 is being put to great use for the water and sky. A great use of Saturn hardware.“

-Pandamonium

A Whole New Ball of Wax Yarn…

We caught up with 7Shades to talk about the project’s new design philosophy:

“This year’s demo marks a shift in design towards multi-objective levels, with a more ‘collect-athon’ type focus. Think Mario 64 or Spyro. Honestly, this is closer to what I originally dreamed of making back when I first started out years ago, but I felt it was too ambitious at the time.”

–7Shades

Rather than abandoning that original ambition, 7Shades has spent the intervening years building the technical foundation necessary to make it a reality.

“Over the years, as my tools and tech have gotten better, I felt like it might actually be feasible to achieve it, so I pivoted to this route after this latest demo. The change has both pros and cons. On one hand, I feel like it is easier to create dense and intricate levels without being spread thin across so many stages. On the other hand, games like this require a lot more scripting than simple linear platformers, which has been a struggle.”

–7Shades

Missions, Sacred Stiches & CubeRats…

The Yarnia Demo also builds upon one of CubeCat‘s most distinctive gameplay mechanics: its yarn balls. Yarn can be found spawning from special thread-spool wells, allowing CubeCat to carry the balls around in his mouth, throw them onto platforms, and bounce off them to reach otherwise inaccessible areas.

The game also introduces NPCs who can provide missions, giving the player a reason to explore the environment beyond simply progressing from point A to point B.

There is even a glimpse of how portals may eventually function within the game, transporting CubeCat into a cave area that is still clearly under construction.

And, naturally, there are still those pesky CubeRats to deal with. These may be developed further, and who knows if we may even see a few other enemies pop in in the future…

“I tried to get enough into the demo to at least showcase the vision going forward. In the final game I am aiming for around 6 objectives per stage. 5 themed stages are planned, each with a main area and sub area. So it won’t be as long as other games in the genre, but should have a decent bit of content.” I hope to be able to showcase a new world soon (spoilers: it has a bit of a spooky theme, so maybe around Halloween?)”

–7Shades

I Wanna Get Technical, Technical…

The technical side of the game continues to be just as impressive as the gameplay. Once again, CubeCat continues to make excellent use of Saturn’s ‘ace in the hole’ VDP2 hardware for its sky and water effects, while the game’s extensive polygonal environments continue to push VDP1. This has been an ongoing challenge throughout development.

Back in 2023, 7Shades explained that the Saturn’s fill-rate limitations could produce significant slowdowns depending on camera position, even when polygon counts themselves appeared manageable. His solution was to continually refine the rendering pipeline and level-of-detail systems to get as much of the world visible as possible without overwhelming the hardware, and the Yarnia Demo is a compelling demonstration of just how far that effort has progressed.

While the Yarnia Demo stands as a significant improvement over previous builds, it’s still a demo, after all… And that means unfinished areas, systems that are still being refined, and plenty of content that has yet to be implemented. But it’s been a fascinating project to follow, and with no pressing release deadlines looming, 7Shades is free to continue honing his craft and refining the game further into what he had originally envisioned.

UPDATE: Yarnia Expands…

Since the original May competition submission, 7Shades has continued working on Yarnia.

On July 22, 2026, an expanded version of the demo was released, incorporating numerous improvements and additional content. The updated build contains:

• Three Main Sacred Stitch Objectives
• A Secret Sub-Area
• 50 Collectible Bells
• Additional NPC interactions
• A New Tutorial and Introductory Dialogue
• Further Gameplay Challenges
• Numerous Bug Fixes & Refinements

Among the more interesting gameplay refinements is the ability to bounce off walls while pouncing in mid-air, providing another means of reaching higher ledges. The revised build also changes the airborne pounce so that CubeCat can no longer remain suspended indefinitely while aiming, requiring players to act before he begins falling.

7Shades continues to polish the level design, scripting, lighting, controls and interactions, and his efforts have certainly not been in vain, as the Cubecat: Yarnia Demo was awarded Best Original Game for SegaXtreme’s Saturn 31st Anniversary Showcase. Not bad for a project that started as one programmer teaching himself how to make a game on a 30-year-old console…

The Chronicles of Yarnia may have only just begun…

Check out this article for more of 7Shades talking Saturn Game Development with Emerald Nova at MegaCon 2026.