When asked if Billie Bust Up was inspired by fellow indie platformer A Hat in Time due to their similar artstyles, the game's official Tumblr account denied this and instead cited The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker as their inspiration. The account also pointed out that A Hat in Time had not yet released when game director Katie Nelson was developing Billie Bust Up's art style, which was first tracked on the game's social media accounts five months prior. Additionally, it was revealed that the character Barnaby (who was noted to be similar to The Snatcher from A Hat in Time) was inspired by Lewis Peppers from the animated webseries "Mystery Skulls Animated".