Kickstarter funded for classic 2D game Tsioque from OhNoo Studio

By Gabe Gurwin Published September 6, 2015

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.

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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.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

Gaming

Frostpunk 2 takes notes from Cities: Skylines with its grander scope

A frozen man with Liar written on his chest sits in front of oil rigs in Frostpunk 2.

In the original Frostpunk, the main goal is to survive an icy apocalypse and reestablish civilization around a powerful generator while slowly gathering resources, building structures with them, and dealing with a plethora of ethical questions along the way. It’s a challenging game, but after dozens of hours and several decisions, players have a solid city center that can withstand the apocalypse.
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Developer 11 Bit Studios recently gave me a presentation of the sandbox “Utopia Builder” mode in Frostpunk 2. During this hands-off demo, I saw how Frostpunk 2 has grown much larger in scale, with players primarily dealing with building entire districts and influencing council votes rather than concerning themselves with gathering tiny amounts of resources and the minutiae of building a small city. That’s a bold approach for a city builder sequel, as they don’t usually change the gameplay this much, but 11 Bit Studios is confident with its large-scale swing. Frostpunk 2 may expand on the original, but it's not throwing away what made the 2018 gem so special.
A true postapocalyptic game
The developer believes Frostpunk 2 is postapocalyptic in the truest sense. While that term was often applied to the original, its developers pointed out in my hands-off preview that the original game technically occurred during an apocalypse and was mainly about surviving it. Meanwhile, this sequel takes place 30 years later and is more interested in challenging players by having them manage a society that’s saved itself and is trying to evolve following an apocalyptic event.

In practice, that means Frostpunk 2’s gameplay lies somewhere between the original’s and that of Cities: Skylines. The hands-off Utopia Builder demo began with a city the size of what players would have built by the end of the first game; this isn’t the entire city, though, just the starting central district. The developers quickly built housing districts on one side of that central hub, pointing out that time in Frostpunk 2 now progresses in weekly increments instead of daily.
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Choices, choices
Challenges were mostly centered around two communities of peoples that populated this “utopia”: the industrial and technical-focused Engineers and the survivalist and adaptive Foragers. As players grow their city, they’ll need to improve it by completing research in the Idea Tree. Each community will present solutions for the player to choose from.
In this demo’s case, the question of “How do we produce more food?” was proposed. The developers chose to side with the Foragers, who wanted to use human waste to create more fertilizer. This one decision had clear consequences throughout the rest of the demo. The Engineers eventually asked if they could chemically treat the sewage to prevent disease, which the developers agreed to, and then learned that children were being used to obtain the biowaste.

Gaming

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Sonic runs through a level in Sonic Superstars

Sonic Superstars is the latest in a long line of 2D Sonic titles, and it’s doing what it needs to stand out. Co-op, Emerald Powers, and a set of all-new levels are not just great back-of-the-box features for a game like this -- they also make this a Sonic game that feels a bit different than all of the other 2D Sonic titles that have come before it. And after going hands-on with Sonic Superstars at Summer Game Fest Play Days, I can say this evolution is promising.
Sonic Superstars - Announce Trailer
Although I didn’t get to try co-op, I saw how the different playable characters could change the game experience, how Emerald Powers enabled Sega to go bigger and bolder with level design, and how this game’s boss fights are already some of the best in the series. If Sega can deliver on all of its promises with Sonic Superstars, this could be the greatest advancement of the 2D Sonic formula in a long time.
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In 2018, Sonic Mania perfected the classic 2D Sonic formula with its excellent level design, silky-smooth controls, and boatloads of callbacks and fan service that only served to enhance the experience. It’s hard to do better than almost perfect, so my feeling has been that if Sonic were ever to return to 2D outside of a direct Mania follow-up, its developers would have to go for something that looks and feels a bit different. That’s why I’m glad to see that series publisher Sega and Fantasian and Balan Wonderworld co-developer Arzest made some bold creative decisions with Sonic Superstars.
At its core, Sonic Superstars uses the same level-based platforming formula as most 2D Sonic games, so it’s not reinventing the wheel in that aspect. Thankfully, running and jumping feel great, thanks to excellent momentum-based gameplay that rewards skilled play with exhilarating speed. The first significant difference is how much Sonic Superstars emphasizes its distinct playable characters. Right now, we know that you’ll be able to play Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. During my time with the game, I only had a chance to try Knuckles and Sonic.

Each character has distinct abilities and a slightly different game feel. Sonic’s faster and can Drop Dash to get a massive speed boost, while Knuckles can glide and climb over vast expanses of levels. In the final release, I could see myself playing each level four times to see how the experience varies from character to character.
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The four Sonic Superstars stages I tried fit that formula and felt like they had a bit more verticality than the series’ pixel-based 2D titles. Emerald Powers enhanced how much I could explore, and in turn, I was typically rewarded with coins, a medal, or a new elevated path to progress on. The routes these Emerald Powers can open up then pair well with each character’s unique abilities. I managed to make my way up to a point where I could glide over a lot of a level with Knuckles, gained enough speed to clear certain obstacles as Sonic, and came away happy that the game enabled me to do that as both characters.

Gaming

Wolfenstein 3D and more classic Bethesda games join PC Game Pass

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The six new games include Wolfenstein 3D, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Quake 4, Quake Champions, An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire, and The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard.