Tearaway creative lead launches Kickstarter for childhood co-op adventure game Knights and Bikes

Foam Sword Games, a studio founded by Rex Crowle (creative lead on Tearaway at Media Molecule) and Moo Yu (gameplay programmer on Ratchet & Clank and LittleBigPlanet), has taken to Kickstarter to fund its first project, a co-op action adventure game about childhood called Knights and Bikes inspired by Earthbound, Secret of Mana, and even The Goonies. It’s seeking $142,000 in funding for an estimated April 2017 release across PC, Mac, Linux, and possibly other platforms.

Here’s the outline:

The Key Ingredients of Knights and Bikes

• SNES-era Action RPG (Earthbound, Secret of Mana)
• Hand-drawn 3D world (magical realism, highly stylized)
• 1980s island setting (The Goonies, Under Milk Wood, our own childhoods)
• Excitable, adventurous kids (exploration, treasure)
• …on bikes! (upgrades, save the adults!)

About

In Knights and Bikes, you will play as Nessa and Demelza on their quest for the truth behind the medieval legends of Penfurzy, an island on the fast track to financial ruin and literal destruction. Recruit a party of creatures from all walks of life, enlist and inspire deflated islanders, and embark on an adventure to find the hero the island so desperately needs.

Teaming up with Demelza’s pet goose, and the pickled severed head of a fallen-knight, they fling Frisbees at demons, trick-out their bikes to reach new locations, and increase their abilities with each islander they rescue.

World

Knights and Bikes takes place on the island of Penfurzy, an island off the coast of Cornwall, where great medieval legends have driven centuries of culture. Inspired by Rex’s childhood, it is a place where fact and fiction are inextricably intertwined.

As such, the island has a case of multiple identities. On one hand, it is a home for the islanders who live a life full of tradition, history, and pride. But on the other hand, it is a tourist attraction that is expressed almost as self parody through arcades, crazy-golf, and other fleeting diversions.

Our story takes place in the 80s when the island’s most prized relic is proved to be fake, raising questions about Penfurzy’s legends. We pick up in the fall of 1987, the end of the island’s worst tourist season ever. All the mainlanders have gone home. Well, all except one.

As Nessa and Demelza begin their search for the truth behind the island legends, they unleash mysterious spirits that possesses many of the island’s inhabitants, human and animal alike. It’s up to our heroines to figure out what these spirits want, where or even when they’re from, and ultimately how to stop them.

Gameplay

Knights and Bikes is an co-op action adventure game where players will explore an island on foot and on bikes, find treasure, battle through “dungeon” areas, rescue islanders and upgrade their gear in the town hub.

• Local Co-Op – Play through the entire game alone with AI helpers controlling the other characters in your party or have a friend join you on this mysterious adventure.
• Explore – Jump on your bike and ride through the ominous wilderness areas of the island following the ever trusty beak of Captain Honkers.
• Treasure – Trade collected treasure to acquire new abilities as well as upgrading those you already have by employing the various odd abilities of rescued islanders.
• Quests – Complete the noble requests of the islanders to win their favor by rescuing loved ones, finding ancient relics, and solving puzzling mysteries.
• Battle – Keep an eye on your health as you fight your way through treacherous dungeons using your improvised arsenal. Execute your combat abilities against possessed creatures to free them from their violent spiritual possession.

Watch the pitch video below. Fund the game on Kickstarter.