Pumuckl is a household name in Germany, and Quantumfrog from Oldenburg release his first game in 26 years today. We talked to MD and founder Hendrik Rump about crafting a Bavarian Kobold in Northern Germany and how three generations of Germans have been influenced by Pumuckl.
Few little creatures are deeper entrenched in German culture than Pumuckl. The little red-haired 'Kobold' (the translation goblin really doesn't do the charming little guy justice), a descendant of a ship's elf dynasty (or 'Klabautermann') lives in Bavaria, far away from any oceans, in the caprentry workshop of grumpy Munich resident Master Eder. The original TV series, based on children's books by Munich author Ellis Kaut, aired from 1979 and was loved by German children for many decades. A new series called New Stories of Pumuckl aired in 2023 with a second season in 2024, bringing Pumuckl back into children's TV. Between and after that, several movies have been produced.
However, there has been no Pumuckl video game since the GameBoy Color days, when the two games Pumuckls Abenteuer bei den Piraten und Pumuckl im Geisterschloss by Acclaim released exclusively in Europe in 1999 and 2000.
Pumuckl and the Crown of the Pirate King releases on 5 March 2026, and while its license is still managed from Bavaria, the game itself comes from Lower Saxonia: Made by Quantumfrog in Oldenburg, much nearer to Pumuckl's beloved ocean. You can also check out our review of the game here.
On this occasion, we talked to Quantumfrog MD Hendrik Rumps about the making of the game, what a Pumuckl game means for people all over Germany, and how the game's development process came from Munich to Northern Germany.
