The “playable cartoon” genre may have gone the way of the dinosaur after the advent of more complex control schemes on home consoles, but there’s an undeniable charm to the lovingly hand-drawn visuals of classic arcade games like Dragon’s Lair. Polish studio OhNoo is hoping others feel the same way, as its new project Tsioque has just launched on Kickstarter, along with a stunning gameplay video.
Update on 9-05-2015 by Gabe Gurwin: By the skin of its teeth, Tsioque has finally passed its $35,000 Kickstarter goal. The final funding push came with only a few days remaining, and OhNoo is hoping to reach $45,000 before the end of the day — doing so will guarantee iOS and Android versions, and if you donate $200 or more, you’ll get a pretty adorable spider plushie.
OhNoo, the studio also responsible for the recent adventure game Tormentum, describes Tsioque as “a playfully dark 2D point & click adventure” with inspiration drawn from Day of the Tentacle and Dragon’s Lair. Following a princess imprisoned by “the Evil Wizard,” the studio hand-drew every frame of animation, and this decision required several frames to be drawn for each second of gameplay. As you can see in the above gameplay demo (which OhNoo specifies as a demo of lesser quality than the final game) the decision appears to be paying off, with brilliant fire effects and explosions, as well as adorable character designs.
The Disney-like atmosphere isn’t stopping at the animation, however. Tsioque will also feature fully voiced dialogue — a glimpse of which you can hear in the trailer — as well as a “dynamic music system, changing moods, and themes to fit the player’s actions.”
OhNoo is currently asking for $35,000 in Kickstarter contributions to make Tsioque a reality on Mac and PC, with mobile and OUYA versions arriving if $45,000 is raised. Backer rewards include a poster, plushes of the main character and a mini Imp, and even the chance to get your likeness in the game. The expected release window is October 2016, and the game is currently available for voting on Steam Greenlight. You can try out a demo for yourself on the game’s official website, as well.
