Fresh off appearing in the first-ever Homebrew Summer Showcase, the Game Boy Color title The Fallen Crown has now landed on Kickstarter.
The promising, new Metroidvania is the work of a two-person team at Atavist Games, including the designer/artist Larson Kilstrom and composer Tyson Manley. They've partnered with the homebrew publisher Broke Studio on the Kickstarter campaign and are hoping to raise £17,188 to support the total costs of finishing the game as well as the costs of cartridge manufacturing. As of writing, they've currently raised £14,607 of that amount with 29 days to go, putting the project well on track to hit its original target.
As outlined on its Kickstarter, The Fallen Crown is a platformer that sees players control an undead warrior and explore an interconnected world, creating shortcuts, interacting with NPCs, solving puzzles, and collecting artifacts out in the world. It also features an armor-based class system, with players able to change their equipment to take on special abilities as a scout, soldier, or wizard. Deeper subclasses based on different equipment combinations are also planned, but only if the project hits its stretch goals.
Here's a description of the story from its Kickstarter page:
"Legends tell of a mysterious tower that rose during a great cataclysm generations ago. Then began a dark age in which the dead began rising from their graves. Bodies were either burnt or buried far out into 'The Wastes', near the land in which The Tower resides. Once the dead rise, they are inexplicably drawn to that ancient monolith. This is where your story begins.
"In The Fallen Crown, you take control of a nameless undead warrior with no memory of his past. Inexplicably drawn to The Tower, you are flung to the depths below before you are able to breach its walls. Now, you must recover your body as well as the memories of your long-forgotten past.
"The story will unfold as you, the player, explore The Tower and the many surrounding areas. Discover secrets to piece together your fragmented memories. Confront mysterious enemies to uncover the truth behind your demise. Only then can you face the evil that has been terrorizing the land for the nearly a century."
If you want, you can support the project here. €10 (roughly £9) will get you the digital version of the game, while €45 (about £39) will land you the standard complete in-box edition. There are also higher tiers, including one for a collector's edition valued at €80 (around £69). This comes with an alternative cover, stickers, a poster, and a soundtrack CD. Rewards are expected to ship in August 2024.
If you're on the fence, you can download a demo of the game now from theKickstarter page and give it a try before you commit.