Usually I limit myself to two gaming projects per Kickstarter Weekly. While this may seem like a cop-out number, I tried to justify it by pairing these games by common themes. For the 22nd Kickstarter Weekly I’ve decided to step up my game and include a third Kickstarter project. They don’t collectively share a common theme this week, but they’re all too good to pass up. The Old City is an exploration game, Pann is a rhythm action platformer and Treachery In Beatdown City is a tactical beat ‘em up. Read on to see if any of this week’s Kickstarter projects interest you.
The Old City
Project By: PostMod Softworks
Goal: $40,000
Current Funds: $4,817
End: May 28, 2014
Curiosity is a natural instinct, and one of the best ways to exercise that trait is through exploration. But sometimes it’s tricky to sell a game that uses exploration as its primary focus. If you’re interested exploring modern day ruins and drawing your own conclusions, then you should keep an eye on The Old City.
As mentioned several times in its Kickstarter page, The Old City is all about story. Explorers take on the role of an isolationist from the sewers who is trying to reach the surface. Players must explore the world to examine the city’s remains so they can figure out the city’s history.
What’s interesting about The Old City is that it’s not linear. According to PostMod Softworks, The Old City responds to the player’s actions. You may notice something interesting while exploring, and the city will, depending on how you’ve interacted with the environment, rearrange its layout to give you a unique experience. This means that there’s optional content that may give new details about the ruins, which you will certainly miss during the first play-through.
If you recall in my review of Jazzpunk, I had a blast exploring the extra content I had missed the first time. While The Old City takes a different approach, it seems to be a promising exploration game. Still, creating a living world requires time, equipment, employees and equipment. Hopefully PostMod Softworks can accumulate the funds to build their city.
Pann
Project By: Glass Cannon Entertainment
Goal: €30,000
Current Funds: €3,086
End: May 29, 2014
Two of my favorite pastimes’ are platformers and music (playing or listening). It’s why I enjoy Electronic Super Joy so much: it gets me in the right mood, and I almost feel like I’m jumping—and then dying—in sync with the music. But Pann promises that music will actually shape the combat of the game.
You play as Apollo, a teenager who begins his journey when his sister succumbs to illness. In order to save her, Apollo casts away his human flesh and attempts to become a God. In order to do so, he must travel with Mai, the god of music, to compete for the deity title and the right to face the god of cross-universal travel, Krishna.
Pann has an interesting combat system. Apollo is a skilled hand to hand combatant, and he can find, learn, and play new instruments to gain new abilities. Combat relies on button cancels, which can be performed in time with the rhythm. According to Glass Cannon Entertainment, fighting game fans will feel right at home. To emphasize flow, Apollo comes equipped with gorgeous visuals that are smoothly animated. Of course, these gorgeous visuals dance to the beat of the excellent soundtrack.
Apollo is being made in unity, and it is currently in the prototyping stage. Based on what I’ve seen from footage and screenshots, I think the team knows what they are doing. But if you’re not yet convinced, then you should head to their Kickstarter page to check out some of the sample tracks they’ve provided. This game is about music, after all.
Treachery In Beatdown City
Project By: Shawn Alexander Allen
Goal: $49,000
Current Funds: $24,245
End: May 11, 2014
I almost skipped over Treachery In Beatdown City. I hadn’t even clicked on Nuchallenger’s Kickstarter page; I had just assumed it was another retro beat ‘em up. But then I read somewhere on Twitter about it being similar to Fallout III, which was enough to entice me to check out the game.
If you’ve grown up playing beat ‘em ups, then you’ll feel right at home with Treachery In Beatdown City’s setting, story and graphics. In the near future, the Ninja Dragon Terrorists have kidnapped President Orama, and it’s up to you and three fighters of varying weight-classes and fighting styles to save him. The game looks similar to Double Dragon, although it also has an over-world like in an RPG. What impresses me about Treachery In Beatdown City is that there are no palette swaps—each of the 26 enemies is unique. This makes me think that Nuchallenger put a lot of care into this game, making me regret initially judging this game by its cover.
While it looks like a beat ‘em up, Treachery In Beatdown City takes a more tactical approach. Shawn still wants it to be simple enough to play, but players can still expect to engage in turn-based, menu-driven combat. This makes it easier to see the diverse move-set of each fighter. Players don’t need to memorize any button combinations; instead, they can choose their moves and chain them together into devastating combos.
Treachery In Beatdown City doesn’t have a long shelf-life on Kickstarter—it only has six days remaining. They seem to do everything right: the Kickstarter trailer reveals enough gameplay, the Kickstarter page provides plenty of details and sample tracks, and Nuchallenger even breaks down the costs. Let’s hope the team can rake in the funds they need for their ambitious hybrid beat ’em up.
Other Projects?
Have you seen any interesting projects on Kickstarter that you think deserve mention? Are you a developer who is currently running a Kickstarter campaign? Let us know in the comments section, or send an email to garrett@thekoalition.com.
