"inspired", every character in this game uses a mechanic that is just a 1-1 recreation of the mechanics in Flumpty's game(s), and the obvious theming around digital circus is suppose to gain attention and bank on the hype around it. Just like when everyone boomed mascot horror trying to replicate fame, this one is a copycat of a copycat.
Edit: grammar correction
The only 1-1 character that has a mechanic from Flumpty's is Clokie, who is similar to Grunkfuss from Flumpty2 . The rest? Pumkipider is just a door-blocking character, Bubbely is just a roaming enemy, and Jeremenkis is a sound meter guy. Dareware's mechanic is actually inspired by a virus found in a deleted FNAF fan game called Jollibies, where a virus pops up and you have to search the cameras to find it. Em Em's mechanic is entirely original.
Regarding the 'obvious' Digital circus theming: no, The art style was inspired by a creator named Vippori on YouTube, and you can check out her work. And no, it wasn't supposed to gain attention and bank on the hype around Digital Circus, since this game was made for a game jam and released on October 29, 2025, even before Digital circus episode 7.
You can criticize work on the internet, but please stop making false accusations. :)
Ok. And? They're both just fangames at the end of the day that you can download FOR FREE... I don't think it's that deep. Every piece of media that you consume does not need to be totally riveting and completely original. I actually played this myself and enjoyed it, this is very solid work for something made (presumably) very quickly for a gamejam. Very unreasonable and disingenuous to hate on but k i guess bro