Worth Checking Out - Angelarium: Book of Emanations

You might remember our interview with Peter Mohrbacher and Eli Minaya a few months back regarding their collaborative, Patreon-funded project Angelarium. Initially consisting of a series of illustrations depicting the eleven aspects of the Abrahamic Tree of Life, Angelarium is poised to encompass a wide-assorted shared story universe of graphic novels, music, t-shirts and even vinyl collectibles!

The first step to all of that is where Angelarium: Book of Emanations comes in. The first of a collection of art books compiling the project's various angelic and daemonic incarnations  into a compendium of ethereal arcane-goodness, Mohrbacher has turned to Kickstarter to help produce the first volume in this ambitious series. Pledge incentives include hard-cover editions of the book, signed canvas prints, sketchbooks and more!

One of the many tiers for the 'Book of Emanations' project.

Angelarium has been one of my favorite art projects to follow and cover in my time writing for Awesome-Robo. The depth of research, self-discovery and forethought that Mohrbacher has sunk into this series is powerfully evident throughout all his illustrations in this series. The campaign is also working in tandem with trading card publisher Albino Dragon to create a tarot series centered around the Angelarium's inhabitants. Find out more information on the book's page and check out the latest examples of the Angelarium project below the break!

Worth Checking Out - Toejam and Earl: Back In The Groove

I'm honestly at a loss for words for how ridiculously excited I was when I saw this pop up. Some of my fondest childhood video gaming memories were spawned from late night sessions playing ToeJam & Earl. The weirdness of the game's characters mixed with the ridiculously funky beats melded was an incredibly odd experience, but it worked and it was wonderful. The sequel, ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron, was an odd followup, but it still managed to capture the weirdness from the previous entry despite being a a 2D platformer.

After it's debut on the Sega Genesis, ToeJam & Earl vanished for nearly a decade, only to be revisited in the disappointing Xbox exclusive ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth which almost guaranteed the series' demise. Thankfully, we now live in a world where crowdsourcing exists giving us the chance to bring it back.

ToeJam & Earl: Back In The Groove is looking to bring back what fans loved from the original and give it a modern twist. It's hard to believe it's been over 20 years since the game originally debuted, but that cheese 90's hip hop factor is still there to remind you of it's roots.

The Kickstarted just started today and it's already sitting at a healthy $22,000. There's loads of information on the game and some awesome tiers of backer rewards to choose from. Check out the Kickstarter page over here to drop a few dollars on this 90's re-awakening. 

'Le Gouffre' is An Exhilarating Testament to Conquering the Impossible

Lightning Boy Studio's Le Gouffre (The Gulf) is an animated short that is thoroughly engrossing as it is visually spectacular. The film tells the story of two intrepid young explorers in their attempt to traverse the titular chasm of "Le Gouffre". Over many weeks, the friends not only manage to forge an death-defying suspension bridge across the expanse, but also forge a relationship with the small rural farmers who call the forested end of the valley their home. But when the leisurely effort quickly shifts into a battle against the elements, can they manage to make it across in time?

The project has amassed a terrific reaction following the overwhelming success of its Kickstarter campaign in 2013, which allowed the creators to finance the movie's post-production. I'd say the money went to good use. The fact that Lightning Boy is made up of no more than three friends who met in animation school is further proof to the point that great things come from small beginnings.
Check out the promotional site for more information about the studio and check paste the break for the equally fascinating behind the scenes video!

Worth Checking Out - Children of Morta

Children of Morta is a "narrative-based roguelike" being developed by Dead Mage, known for creating similar hack’n slash titles such as Shadow Blade and Garshasp: The Monster Slayer. Players assume the roles of the Bergson family, the ancestral guardians of the Mountain of Morta, who must battle their way along the mountain's peak to discover the source of the corruption transforming the wilderness into a host of blighted abominations and dispel it once and for all.

Let me tell you of the days of high adventure...

What really strikes me about this game besides its beautiful, densely pixelated art-style, is how the family members each represent a prototypical class of top-down RPG occupations (John the Father is the swordsman, Linda the Daughter is the archer, Lucy the Mage and Kevin the Rogue, etc.) and the ability to switch between them over the course of the game. The procedural-generated dungeons coupled with an emphasis on a strong narrative elements throughout add a nice twist to the mix too.

The game is currently sitting on over $46-thousand of its initial 65-thousand dollar goal, with the potential of expanding to the current-gen consoles (i.e. PS4, Xbox One, and Wii-U) post-release. Backer incentives include a download of the game's soundtrack and access to an exclusive family member. If the trailer piques your interest, throw some support their way!

It's Happening: Starr Mazer Launches Kickstarter Campaign!

Last April, I did a write-up for Jérémie Périn's epic concept-game trailer Starr Mazer before shouting from the rooftops into the vacuum of space hoping against hope that this ludicrously entertaining mash-up of bullet-hell Shoot 'em up and pulp sci-fi point-and-click mechanics manifested into something actually playable. 

Well, it looks like the long arch of the universe is smiling in my favor because Imagos Softworks has finally launched a kickstarter campaign to bring this modern-day opus of retro gaming to fruition.

I think my spaceship knows which way to go...

The team includes Périn who's back on-board doing concept-art; The pledge page promises an original chip-tunes soundtrack courtesy of the talented Alex Mauer (Serious Sam: Random Encounter), Manami Matsumae (Mega Man), The Protomen, and Virt (Shovel Knight), a colorful host of characters, and a multi-choice branching storyline that results in interesting subsequent play-throughs.

I really don't know if it gets much cooler than this. It's like if Space Ace, Commander Shepherd, Space Dandy, and Guybrush Threepwood got mashed all up into one guy who was then thrown into a black hole and then spat out into a Gradius Level. Go back this asap!

Worth Checking Out - Strafe

It's sometimes a bit difficult for me to see clearly when I'm flooded with overwhelming nostalgia, but Strafe may have hit perfection with it's Kickstarter trailer. The amount of 90s cheese is amazing and already has me ordering a new fanny pack and a 20-year-old box of Ecto Cooler.

Strafe is a rogue-like with an FPS and resource gathering twist. With procedurally generated levels, players need to make the most out of gathered resources in order to survive the unknown levels. In a world with endless indie rogue-likes, it takes a lot to stand out, but Strafe definitely has the aesthetic to do so.

I'm really digging the art style, which sits somewhere between Doom and a voxel-style game with loads of bloody giblets. The dripping pixels of blood in the above gif really wraps it all up nicely.

The game, which currently has 28 days remaining in it's Kickstarter campaign, is sitting at a healthy $42,000 of it's $185,096 goal, but that doesn't mean it doesn't need your help. For more info and to help fund it's creation, check out the Kickstarter page over here. This game is looking totally radical.

Worth Checking Out - Cannon Busters The Animated Series

LeSean Thomas is a busy dude, and I couldn't be more happy for him. With work ranging from The Boondocks to The Legend of Korra, LeSean Thomas has quite an impressive body of work. Canon Busters: The Animated Series looks to be another awesome addition to the increasing amount of crowd funded animation (including the still running campaign of URBANCE).

The animation presented in the Kickstarter video for Canon Busters is incredible looking, and holds a style similar to some of the many anime favorites from the 1990s. With influences ranging from Escaflowne, hip hop, and classic RPGs, Canon Busters sounds like an awesomely original experience drawing inspiration an interesting mix of genres. There's something about mashing up of robots and samurai that really gets me excited, but seeing the quality put into Cannon Busters is all I need to start reaching for my wallet.

With the high cost and time requirements of hand drawn animation, it's become increasingly most difficult for sci-fi series to exist in the animated world, but it appears to be making a comeback (and for good reason, it's awesome). The studio at Makestuff LLC is looking for a reasonable $120,000 to produce their first 8-10 minute pilot episode. Once met, future stretch goals may enable them to produce a full 24-minute episode.

If you dig what you see as much as I do, definitely check out the rest of their Kickstarter page over here and drop a few bucks.

Steambot Studios Launches Urbance Kickstarter

We covered Urbance way back when the story of these gender-bending street warriors was little more than a hyper-stylish proof-of-concept trailer. Look how much a year changes things! Steambot Studios finally launched a kickstarter page for Urbance late last month and the response since then has been staggeringly positive.

"A mash-up of Jet Set Radio and The Warriors"

With over a third of the project's initial funding goal reached and already garnering cosigns from fellow animators such as LeSean Thomas (Black Dynamite) Thomas Romain (Code Lyoko) and Hiroshi Shimizu (Princess Mononoke), Urbance seems poised to break out into the world in full force. I sincerely hope this project reaches its four-hundred dollar stretch goal; I need a full length episode of this!

Worth Checking Out - Pathologic (Мор.Утопия)

I admit I sat on this Kickstarter a little longer than I would have liked. After donating to the incredible project known as Pathologic, it somehow escaped me to share it with the rest of you. Back in 2005, Pathologic was originally released with an abysmal Russian-to-English translation that greatly inhibited player experience. Despite the bad translation, the game's mechanics and ambience were what truly made the game shine, providing it with the opportunity to amass a decent sized cult following.

Pathologic tells the story of three different doctors (each with their own separate storyline), trying to piece together the correct solution to a town's dangerous plague. While the game is in a sense, a survival game, the true gem of the game is using your wits to make tough decisions in order to save the lives of the town's inhabitants.

There isn't a way to save everyone, and the decisions you make affect the game in many ways. You might make the decision to track down patient zero, alternatively, you might also find it in your best interest to exterminate the plague holders. The method to reaching the plague's end is entirely up to the player, creating many different outcomes. 

Pathologic is looking to be a very real and moving experience, portraying a realistic plague scenario that players must overcome in anyway they see fit. The game's dark tone really sets an unnerving mood, and in a lot of ways, creates a sense of horror for the player throughout their twelve days in-game. The game's abstract character design and surreal method of storytelling holds a lot of similarities to ACE Team's 2009 release, Zeno Clash, which perks my interest for the project even further.

The Kickstarter is quickly approaching it's end date, with only 13 days left as of this post. With less than $20,000 to goal, Pathologic seems to be a assured a successful Kickstart. If you want to guarantee the game's success and check out a more in-depth look at it's mechanics, take a look over at the Kickstarter page over here.

Worth Checking Out - 24 Killers

24 Killers is a life sim/mystery game where players assume the role of a disembodied shape-shifting skeleton who has been recruited by an anonymous benefactor to act as a ghost hunting private investigator in a secluded island town inhabited by monsters. If that description alone doesn't inspire you to back this, I don't know what will!

The spirits that haunt your house are involved in the best kinds of debauchery. They possess a new person each day to get a little taste of life again, but never have peace. As you slap these spirits out of their hosts, you'll learn about their plight and why they're stuck in this loop of unrest. Who are the 24 Killers?

As it exists now, 24 Killers is "complete", fully playable from start to finish. But in the interest of further fleshing out the components of game-play content, creator Todd Luke has set up a kickstarter page and offered a ton of incentives to coax potential backers, including art prints and a full digital glossary of the island's inhabitants.

The game features a truly inspired premise and art style, sort of like Animal Crossing if viewed through the painterly stylings of David Hellman. The game emphasizes humor and playfulness, balancing a sense of morbid mystery with an off-beat tongue-in-cheek tone. Check out the funding page and see if it strikes your fancy. And while you're at it, play the original browser prototype!

Worth Checking Out - Band Saga

I've always had an passing flirtation with rhythm and music games, but Band Saga has to be one of the most inventive and interesting twists on the genre that I've seen in a long time.

A roguelike action-RPG where every level, enemy and weapon is generated real-time through music, Band Saga follows the story of a young man whose dream of starting a band is kickstarted by the presence of a mysterious woman and an army of otherworldly baddies and abominations that are out for his head. Throughout their journey players will recruit new band-mates, adding a host of new instruments to their musical arsenal.

Road trip~

Each new hub-city and level explored will unlock new sounds, items and the ability to modify and sequence them musically in Band Saga's built-in FM Sequencer. The novelty of remixing sounds and manipulating the soundtrack to traverse the environments as well as taking down enemies could add a whole other layer of challenging complexity to the gameplay. Here's hoping the team can pull it off!

As Band Saga's kickstarter stands now, the game is just over a third of a way to its funding goal. As incentive, creators Roger Hicks and Hillmon Ancrum have put the game's entire soundtrack up for sale, including a promotional mini-comic prequel. A music-oriented RPG with a gorgeously kaleidoscopic art style reminiscent a la Scott Pilgrim and Mercenary Kings? Sounds like a no-brainer to me.

Worth Checking Out - Tetropolis

When the buzzword "Tetroidvania" was dropped, I was instantly intrigued. "How can the classic puzzle game Tetris ever find it's way into a game with Metroidvania style mechanics?", I asked myself before diving into the Kickstarter. My question was answered with a game far beyond my initial expectations, and it looks radical.

Tetropolis may be influenced by the 2-D exploration aspects of the Metroidvania genre, but it's mechanics are the true sparkle to this gem. The puzzle aspect of the game are incorporated in an awesomely unexpected way, Tetropolis focuses on platforming with a rather unique way of maneuvering. Each separate Tetris piece has it's own way of maneuvering, such as the long piece stretching in order to increase it's jump.

What looks to be the real meat of the game's Tetris influence is it's mini-map, which also consists of separate pieces. These pieces of the map can be rotated at any time, giving the opportunity to access room that were not originally accessible. With the mixture of movement based puzzles and the ability to reorient the map layout, I can already imagine some incredible puzzle opportunities.

As of now, Tetropolis has 30 days left to reach it's $50,000 goal. If you'd like to help Kickstart NextGen Pant's project, you can head over to their Kickstarter here.

Worth Checking Out - Under the Dog

I find it difficult not to claim Japan as the final frontier for televised animation, the amount of quality animation that's released every season is outstanding. Despite a constant stream of anime, it would be silly of me to claim that Japanese animators get full reign of their projects, which explains the massive amounts of slice of life and your run-of-the-mill shonen entries. Luckily our crowdfunding friend, Kickstarter, exists for the sole purpose of putting the control back into the creators grasp.

After the success of Masaaki Yuasa's Kick-Heart, it's no surprise that another talented team has turned to Kickstarter to fund their next big project. Under The Dog is a science fiction thriller animated by the talented folks at Creative Intelligence Arts, Inc. The team is compromised of an incredibly talented bunch, including Masahiro Ando (key animator for Neon Genesis Evangelion and Ghost in the Shell), Yusuke Koazki (character designer for No More Heroes and Fire Emblem: Awakening), and Jiro Ishii (producer of the incredible 3DS game, 999).

It's awesome seeing the work of each individual member of the team, and seeing them collaborate on a project like this is insane.

This project looks and sounds too good to be true, but the team seems wholly dedicated to creating a top-notch sci-fi anime. While it's a bummer that only one episode is planned, the stretch goals promise a second and third episode, along with a full-length film if funded enough. The scenes presented in the Kickstarter video are absolutely phenomenal, and the team's dedication to stick with an original story shines a very hopeful light for this project.

Other than the more recent Psyco-Pass, it's been a minute since we've gotten a solid science fiction and Under the Dog looks to be attempting to fill that gap for the time being.

If you'd like to donate, hit up their Kickstarter over here. $25 will gets you access to the episode, which is set for December of next year.

Robo Reminder: 7 Days Remain To Kickstart OMOCAT's OMORI

It's been a little over a month since OMOCAT began her Kickstarter campaign for OMORI, and after the massive response from the internet her dream game has accrued over 4x the initial goal. OMOCAT's initial goal and a slew of other stretch goals may have been met!

Still, while the game has been fully funded seven whole days remain! That means you have no reason not to hop on board and get this game to the moon and back.

With the low stretchgoal of $180,000, we can help get OMORI onto the 3DS, something that would end up being me and many other's platform of choice for the Horror RPG. If you've been on the fence about donating now is the perfect time to give the game the final boost it needs. You can Kickstart OMORI over here.

Worth Checking Out - OMORI by OMOCAT

Awesome Robo favorite OMOCAT (who's work you can even buy from our store!) has been teasing at an RPG for a few months now and we're finally getting to see the progress she's made along with the opportunity to help fund it!

OMORI is a surreal exploration based horror RPG, with vibes similar to that of  the 2004 RPG Yume Nikki and the cult-favorite OFF. The story, which revolves around her original character OMORI, a "depressed otaku" who's story is already over before you begin it. The game, using the RPG maker as it's foundation, has an incredible lineup of features including an original soundtrack (which is absolutely amazing from what's been provided thus far), a huge slew of original characters, and even a room full of cats!

As of now, the Kickstarter has already hit about 80% of it's goal in less than 24-hours, essentially guaranteeing a successful campaign. Based on OMOCAT's work, we're expecting an incredibly stylish ad heartfelt experience that many RPGs seem to have lost sight of If you'd like to pitch in and get a copy of the game yourself, head over to the Kickstarter page here here.

OMOCAT has a few of the game's soundtrack for quick listening as well, I'm really digging the mix of electronic and acoustic pieces and I'm excited to see how they're incorporated into the game. 

The Dark Side of Disney - The Anarchists Cookbook Of Disney Trips

Well this is something I can get behind. Being a bit of a Disney themepark aficionado, I've come to appreciate all the strange quirks about the Disneyland/world illusion. Following having gone to the parks a few dozen times, you really start to appreciate the most minute details and crave a peek at the inner workings of the park. 

Leonard Kinsey's best selling The Dark Side Of Disney delves into even darker details about the park though, offering readers tips on the best places to hook up, the cheapest and unscrupulous ways to get yourself into the park, and what lies underneath the Magic Kingdom. A Kickstarter just popped up hoping to adapt this awesome little book into what I believe will be one hell of an entertaining documentary, offering us a very adult perspective of the park.



The book is divided into four sections:

Chapter 1 is devoted to financing a Walt Disney World vacation on the cheap by any means necessary, be it buying half-used tickets from shady resellers, to renting timeshares for pennies on the dollar from down-and-out owners, to filling up on free toppings at Magic Kingdom’s Counter Service restaurants.

Chapter 2 is all about carnality at Disney, discussing the best places to have sex and/or find people to have sex with, where to score and do drugs on-site, and where to see a kick-ass rock show complete with girls throwing their panties on stage.

Chapter 3 is a hodgepodge of information about the dangerous and disgusting wildlife commonly found on WDW property, morally questionable time saving tips, and assorted scams that are pulled on naïve tourists and on Disney itself.

Chapter 4 burrows below The Magic Kingdom for a tour of the famous Utilidoors, and features interviews with two high-profile Urban Explorers who have gone into off-limits areas of WDW and lived to tell about it.

Dark Skyes - The Most Bizarre My Little Pony Kickstarter Project (Ever?)

The folks at Million Dollar Extreme have been delivering their own unique brand of anti-humor, including their very memorable TED crash last year called 'Paradigm shift.' What I've come to love about these guys is their ability to constantly deliver the most bizarre (And hilarious) videos I've ever seen, and recently they even jumped onto the Kickstarter bandwagon with Dark Skyes: An Epic Brony Dating Sim. 

While I'm still debating whether this is a seriously elaborate prank or just a chance to make a quick buck while delivering a Max Headroom-esque video presentation of a very odd title to a client, the video is a good representation of what my nightmares are made out of. I can't stop watching though. If you're looking to contribute to Dark Skyes, the game is halfway to it's funding goal with about two days to go. Take a plunge into the dark side.

Juanjo Guarnido In The Freak Kitchen

Now this looks pretty cool! Juanjo Guarnido is a critically acclaimed comic artist and former Disney animator who's teamed up with experimental Swedish metal band Freak Kitchen to produce a music video based off their latest album Cooking with Pagans. The video is set to premiere at Comic Con this year.

With an all-star team of former Disney and Dreamworks animators, they've already raised well over their initial goal of $90,000. As a huge fan of animated bands like Dethklok and Gorillaz and having seen some of the concept art, I can't wait to see this come to fruition.

Frog Fractions 2 Is A Thing You Can Fund And You Won't Know What It Is

Never played Frog Fractions? Get on it, right here and right now. For those unfamiliar with Frog Fractions, it's a simple mathematics game intended to teach kids fractions, for those familiar you'll know I'm full of sh*t. I'm really not going to go out of my way to spoil the experience, just know the more you play the better it gets. Trust me.

After nearly 2 years, the crew behind Frog Fractions are back with intents of making the sequel we never knew we needed. The catch is, after the game is funded no one will know what it is until the "jig" is up. Yes that means the title Frog Fractions 2 probably isn't the game's title, instead it's up to gamers to solve the "jig" in order for the development team to reveal the game's true identity. What does that mean for backers? Sounds strange, but they won't receive the game until it's released and revealed.

It sounds absolutely crazy, but so crazy that it needs to happen. The above Kickstarter video doesn't really give any information as to what the game could possibly be, although it does drop a few important keys to solving the "jig" once the game is released. The only issue is, we don't even know when the game will be released, in fact it could already be out (I totally doubt it).

If you'd like to fund this insane social-experiment/game go right ahead over here, I know I'm planning to. 

Wakfu - Ankama's Awesome Animated Series Making The Jump To English

Woohoo! If you've been following this blog for a while, you've probably heard me lament a few hundred times about the lack of France's Ankama animation never making the jump overseas. Wakfu in particular impressed me with it's fantastic animation quality, stylization (Courtesy of Ankama's Xaxaxa, among others) and popularity in it's home country which we noted during a trip to Paris. That was in 2011.

Fast forward a few years and it seems like Ankama launched a Kickstarter about a month back (Something we missed), which with less than 15 hours to go has blasted through all it's goals, achieving 500% funding (About $360,000). Among the rewards are some amazing art books, Blurays of the first season and more. I'd highly recommend checking it out if you get a chance. Here's to hoping other overseas studios take a similar approach with their franchises.