Gumball and the Shrink Ray is coming to Game Boy Color and PC

Solo developer Adam Lewis Graf (operating under the studio name Exquisite Laundry Pet LLC) and publisher Mega Cat Studios are bringing a new monster-collecting RPG, Gumball and the Shrink Ray, to Steam and physical Game Boy Color cartridges in 2027. The announcement comes alongside a reveal trailer and developer update detailing how the project expands on Graf's debut title, Gumball in Trick-or-Treat Land.

That first game only launched on February 19, 2026, landing on PC, physical Game Boy Color carts, and the Mega Cat Studios Collection 3 cartridge for Evercade. Graf, who also co-hosts the Game Boy classic podcast Pocketeering, started pre-production on the follow-up while wrapping up the original in 2025, so the sequel Already has about a year of development behind it.

From four party members to 70

The original Gumball in Trick-or-Treat Land was an eight-hour adventure with four recruitable companions. For the sequel, Graf is treating the jump like the transition between first- and second-generation Pokémon games on handheld hardware.

"I'm trying to channel more of an Earthbound sensibility when it comes to the handling of characters and story with this one. So, basically, if Gumball 1 is the equivalent of Gen 1 Pokémon, this is my attempt at a Gen 2 treatment of the concept."

That jump in scope isn't small. Almost every opponent in the game can now be recruited into a three-character "Shrink Squad," pushing the roster past 70 partners that players can swap in and out at terminals across the map. Each recruit has four attacks pulled from a pool of more than 70 moves, and the campaign is targeting 15 to 25 hours, roughly double the length of the first game. I'm curious how balanced a roster of 70 characters can actually be on 8-bit hardware without half of them feeling like palette swaps, though the sheer variety of candy and bug designs shown so far is promising.

Turn-based combat has been reworked to match the bigger roster. Instead of just trading hit points, battles now use a momentum system that rewards players with extra turns over time, paired with a mood mechanic where keeping your party's "vibe" high grants buffs while sticking opponents with negative status effects.

Corporate shrink rays and a day-night clock

The story picks up five years after Gumball's first trip. A frantic marshmallow scientist interrupts Gumball's quiet life inside his vending machine, dropping him into the northern frontier of Trick-or-Treat Land after his old friend Cornando gets trapped inside Shrink HQ. Billboards for "Mussty's Shrink Shop" are everywhere, and Gumball has to get by with a discount "Junk Ray" while figuring out what the corporation's Board of Directors is up to.

That titular gadget isn't just for plot. Using the ray lets Gumball shrink down to slip into hidden, side-scrolling micro-worlds tucked inside the normal top-down overworld, which is how you track down secret items and bug-themed party members.

Graf also built a real-time day and night cycle spanning the game's 12 new areas. Borrowing a trick from late-era Game Boy Color releases like Pokémon Gold and Silver, the clock shifts the color palettes as you travel and swaps out which NPCs and combat encounters appear at different hours.

The game is built to run on real Game Boy Color hardware, complete with full-screen illustrated stills for story scenes. You can wishlist Gumball and the Shrink Ray on Steam right now, and Graf notes that console ports beyond PC and the physical cartridge will depend on how much interest and funding the project pulls in before its 2027 release.