Summary
- The Kiln Open Beta Throwdown is underway on Steam, and you can sign up to start playing from today until April 11.
- To help inspire your creative pottery builds, Double Fine is here to share some of their most-favorite creations.
- Kiln launches on April 23, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, Xbox Cloud, PlayStation 5, Steam, and day one with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. It will support Xbox Play Anywhere and Handheld Optimized.
We’re just a few short weeks away from the launch of Double Fine’s unique pottery brawler, with Kiln rolling ever closer to its April 23, 2026, launch date. If you can’t wait to start playing, Kiln’s Open Beta Throwdown is live starting today, and you can participate on Steam using the “Request Access” button until April 11, playing through a sampling of what the full game has to offer and helping fine tune its multiplayer magic alongside many other players and the team at Double Fine.
If you’re unfamiliar with Kiln, we announced it during our Developer Direct back in January. It’s Double Fine’s first-ever online competitive multiplayer game where you’ll play as spirit that can inhabit clay pots and take them into battle against your friends. What makes it even more unique is you can craft your own pot by using a wealth of shaping tools on the pottery wheel, tapping into a variety of pot sizes and special abilities that complement your unique playstyle.
Pre-orders are now live for both the Standard ($19.99) and Fired Up ($29.99) editions. The Fired Up edition includes the base game as well as premium glazes, stickers, attachments, and custom pots.
Kiln launches on April 23, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, Xbox Cloud, PlayStation 5, Steam, and with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate as an Xbox Play Anywhere title and will be Handheld Optimized.
Double Fine’s Favorite Pots
To help inspire your soon-to-be amazing pottery creations, we enlisted the help of the amazing folks at Double Fine to share with us some of their favorite pots. From tall in thin, short and stout, and somewhere in between, each of these were made using the same in-game tools that will be at your disposal during Kiln’s Open Beta Throwdown!
Lady Libpotty
Created By: Tim Schafer, Studio Head
“Give us your lumpy, your lopsided, your slightly cracked…”
- Why I Like This Pot-sona: It’s kind of a thinker, as far as political statements go.
- Clay Size: Medium
- Pot Shape: Jug
- Decorations Applied: Rebel Lid; S-Curve Spout; Speckled Blue Glaze; Circus Stars; Smiley Face; Midcentury Pyramid Stickers
- Tips to Create Your Pot: Don’t forget you can rotate your pot before glazing!
- Special Attack: It’s a stunning bullhorn that calls out a song of freedom and liberty!
Kibble & Bits
Created By: Derek Brand, Project Lead & Art Director
“A hungry dog dish with a bottomless appetite. Kibble & Bits charges in, chews up the battlefield, and spits out the pieces. He’s got no table manners!”
- Why I Like This Pot-sona: A simple shape, but very recognizable.
- Clay Size: Large
- Pot Shape: Plate
- Decorations Applied: Circle Charm; Glossy White Glaze; Celadon Glaze; Fiji Glaze; Midcentury Stars
- Tips to Create Your Pot: It’s all about the straight walls that slightly taper in. Use the Ruler tool to get a crisp flat wall and Sponge it up to make it nice and smooth.
- Special Attack: The Bullrush attack has great mobility and is good for smacking aside unwelcome dinner guests. This is an aggressive tank build that is very fun for diving into the action.
Julius Dimond (Diamond Jules)
Created By: Ernest Walker III, QA Game Lead
“Charismatic, sly and sleek with a very cool demeanor. He can boogie down while laying the smash down to other invading pots with style. Let’s Boogie Baby!!!”
- Why I Like This Pot-sona: Personally, I like this pot because of its aesthetic, and versatility in combat. Who wouldn’t want a diamond on the dance floor duking it out against opponents to quench their Kiln? I can easily get in and out of attacks while dealing a decent amount of damage with its dance style combos attack with ease.
- Clay Size: Medium
- Pot Shape: Vase
- Decorations Applied: Rounded Cone Lid; Southwestern Handle; Punk Spout; Metal Spike; Peruvian Meander Glaze (Pants); Technicolor (Rainbow) Glaze (Shirt); Butt Sticker
- Tips to Create Your Pot: It’s all about playing and experimenting with shapes. The Lift and Pinch tools do this with great ease when building the base of your pot. After your base is completed, figure out what kind of personality or attitude you want to give your pot by using the many decorative Toppers, Spouts, Handles, Charms, Glazes, and Stickers. Be creative and explore!
- Special Attack: The Medium Vase warrior pot comes with a powerful charge flail attack. When it lands, it is so satisfying to whip an opponent. Whip ‘em good!
Joy Jar
Created By: Joshua Jon Herbert, Designer
“A fun pot that inspires those around it. Its rhythm brings joy to the pot-people!”
- Why I Like This Pot-sona: It’s formidable and makes your teammates happy. Large pots have lots of health and capacity, but the trade off is that they’re normally pretty slow. This pot’s special ability mitigates that tradeoff by temporarily speeding up itself and all teammates around it. Surrounded by friends, it’s unstoppable! Plus it has a cute dance.
- Clay Size: Large
- Pot Shape: Chalice
- Decorations Applied: Mod Tab Lid; Flower Handle; Skull Charm; Glazes: Peruvian Meander; Glossy Red; Peruvian Meander; Glossy White; Abstract Warrior
- Tips to Create Your Pot: Lift, shaper, ruler, pinch, sponge, sparkles. Cross section for hard to see angles. Different sized mouths = different sized toppers. Don’t be afraid to mess up, you can always try again!
- Special Attack: This warrior has one of our only support abilities in the game; the Drum! It speeds up not only your movement and attacks, but your crew’s too! Coordinate a full-on assault with your friends and become king of the pots!
Lefty
Created By: Jeremy French, Designer and Lead Environment Artist
“This penguin pot carried a fish friend around like a security blanket. Over time it has, of course, reduced to merely bones, but neither of them are bothered about it. Besties forever!”
- Why I Like This Pot-sona: I like that we can use attachments that weren’t originally designed as a cohesive set to create something unexpected. The result doesn’t have to be a chaotic hodgepodge. Be creative and you can end up with something that looks entirely intentional. It’s also a lot of fun to smash other pots as the cutest creation you can conjure up.
- Clay Size: Medium
- Pot Shape: Bottle
- Decorations Applied: Koi Topper; Triangular Spout; Arched Handle (Wings/Legs); Glazes: Basic Dark, Glossy White, and Spotty Banana; Frog Eye Stickers; Fish Bone Sticker (tucked under his left arm)
- Tips to Create Your Pot: Be patient while glazing. It might take a few dips to get coverage on just the parts you’re interested in. Glazing in real life can be hard, too! And don’t be afraid to mix and match from a variety of Attachment sets.
- Special Attack: This Medium Bottle uses the Thrust ability. It can take some practice to aim with it consistently, but it has excellent range, good damage, and can even be used merely to cover large distances quickly.
Yo-Yo
Created By: Zahra Amirabadi, Character Artist
“Unpredictable and playful, always bouncing between calm and chaos. Its movements feel elastic and exaggerated, almost like it’s never fully grounded. There’s something mischievous about it—it looks harmless at first, but there’s a strange intensity underneath that keeps you on edge.”
- Why I Like This Pot-sona: I love how expressive and animated it feels. The movement reminds me of a yo-yo, constantly shifting and snapping back, which gives it a unique rhythm. It also brings back that nostalgic feeling of dynamic, character-driven motion, something that feels playful but still powerful.
- Clay Size: Medium
- Pot Shape: Chalice
- Decorations Applied: Frog Topper; Frog Handle; Frog Charm; Frog Squish Sticker; Frog Glaze; Sleek Frog Glaze; Cerulean Blue Glaze; Clown Smile Sticker
- Tips to Create Your Pot: Using tools to push and shape curvature is one of my favorite parts of the process — it helps avoid things feeling too perfect or rigid and gives the pot a bit more life and personality.
- Special Attack: Sand Timer. I love it because it slows down opponents, letting me control the pace of the fight and create openings to go on the offensive. It’s especially helpful since I don’t rely on fast, technical combat — I can take my time and still come out on top
Too Pot To Candle
Created By: Peter Silk, Community Support Manager
“This candle might enter the arena already snuffed out, but don’t let the disguise fool you. It’s a cannon loaded and ready to fire!”
- Why I Like This Pot-sona: I’m a big fan of the large bottle shape, and I think it’s fun to see how far you can stretch our amazing pot creation tools to really stretch the definition of what a pot can be.
- Clay Size: Large
- Pot Shape: Bottle
- Decorations Applied: Tagine Lid; Double Spiral Handle; Stud Charm; 2x Gold Glaze; 2x Basic Orange Glaze; Granite Glaze
- Tips to Create Your Pot: Make sure to smooth out the main part of the candle, but careful at the top – that needs to be nice and gnarly to conceal most of the tagine lid. The shaper tool might help here. The glaze is the real tricky part. Add a second coat of Basic Orange Glaze higher up for the melty-candle effect, just a dash of granite glaze for the wick, and you might need to spin it around to finish off the handle with more Gold Glaze.
- Special Attack: This pot turns into a cannon you can aim and fire for long distance damage. Great for defense, but don’t let the enemy get too close or you might be left vulnerable!
Scaredy Plants
Created By: Rocio Salas, Community Manager
“Scaredy Plants is a small bottle that is trying his best, okay? He outfits himself to be as innocuous as possible – he’s just a little guy. He will try to blend in with the greenery on any map. And when there isn’t greenery? Well, he’s all about an explosive exit!”
- Why I Like This Pot-sona: I like that the small bottle, a little stick of dynamite, comes with such a fearful personality. Why is this dude, who can by all accounts blow up the entire enemy team in one big boom, shaking in his little boots? It’s endearing to me.
- Clay Size: Small
- Pot Shape: Bottle
- Decorations Applied: Leafy Plant topper; Elven Handle; Kelly Green Glaze; Celadon Glaze; Sleek Frog Glaze; Watermelon Rind Glaze; Midcentury Spiral
- Tips to Create Your Pot: This pot was made with a lot of organic motions in mind. I used a lot of the Shaper to get the right movement, smoothed it out with my spirit butt, and, most importantly, layered a lot of green glazes for the ultimate camouflage!
- Special Attack: Dynamite! This small bottle will fling itself at the enemy as an explosive stick of dynamite. I love the willingness to give their all for their team and, as a fan of ignoring the objective and focusing on smashing pots, I love the ability to get a quad-smash.
Kiln launches on April 23, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, Xbox Cloud, PlayStation 5, Steam, and day one with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. It will support Xbox Play Anywhere and Handheld Optimized.
Kiln
Xbox Game Studios
$19.99
$17.99
Double Fine Productions presents Kiln, a pottery power-fantasy that celebrates both Creativity and Destruction: the pleasure that comes from both making beautiful things, and then smashing those things to smithereens. Create your pot, grab your friends, and join a team of colorful spirits who face off against one another in online arenas, where the ceramic creations you sculpt on a pottery wheel become the bodies you bring into battle.
The shape of your pots affect your attributes and your play-style. Will you be big, or small? Wide, or tall? Will you make a plate, a jug, a cup or a bowl?
There are a multitude of different sizes and combinations to discover, each with unique abilities and attacks, along with new and surprising ways to play. Work together to find the best combination of pots and play-styles to break through enemy lines, and collect enough water to douse the flames of the enemy’s kiln — Does your team have what it takes to shape and smash your way to victory? As the battlefield becomes strewn with the shattered fragments of friend and foes alike, your brawling skills and some great teamwork will be required to assure victory.
After the battle is won, head to The Wedge to practice your pottery prowess, decorate your pots to make them yours, then share your creations with others (and admire their handiwork, too).
Create and Destroy Together – Making pots and breaking pots are both better with friends. Hang out, experiment with clay and share what you make, or jump right into multiplayer battles and start swinging!
Become a Master Potter– Manipulate realistic clay to craft and decorate in an immersive pottery wheel experience featuring a variety of tools and techniques.
The post Kiln: Double Fine Shares Their Favorite Pots as Open Beta Goes Live appeared first on Xbox Wire.
