One week left, one stretch goal to go! And we've started work on the game manual
about 4 years ago – Sun, Sep 06, 2020 at 05:26:19 AM

Hello once again! For awhile there it felt like this campaign would never end, but here we are in the final week. And better yet, we have only a single stretch goal to go! 

Arkanya Game Manual

Those who have followed the project for awhile may remember that Pinkedelink, the in-game voice actress for Marisa (not to be confused with EllieQVO who played Marisa in the trailer) also does quite a bit of Arkanya fan art. Well, she and I started talking awhile ago and we decided that she would be assisting with the creation of the Arkanya game manual! So today we have a rough draft of a page from the manual to show you!

Isn't that ridiculously cute? Now keep in mind, the sketches in the finished product will be in full-color! Probably. Really its all up in the air right now, because we want to hear what you think! We want this to be a manual that will be both informative, and also a fun collectible item! 

The premise behind the manual is that it's Marisa's adventuring journal, meant to teach other aspiring treasure hunters how to be as great as she is! This journal will of course contain instructions for the game, but also maps, secret hints, and story info! So tell us what you think in the comments, or ping me on discord! I'd love to hear from you! 

Featured Contest Entries

Just going to repost the contest info for today. Look forward to lots of new entries next week!

Please don't procrastinate, it makes my job harder!

Check out Lost Ruins on Kickstarter!

I know most of you came here for the capybara, but for those of you craving games about cute girls in spooky dungeons, consider checking out Lost Ruins! It's a side-scrolling action game packed with loads of weapons, spells, and awesome light effects! Altari Games did a wonderful job of combining modern particle effects with retro pixel graphics to make a very intense and beautiful aesthetic! 

They have a demo out now, so you can check that out too! But they've only got 6 days to go, so don't wait too long! Here's their kickstarter page: http://kck.st/2PhaA5V  

Well that's all I have for you today, see you next week and please have a wonderful weekend!

-BeanBandit, Lead Arkanya Developer

Coming in to the final stretch!
about 4 years ago – Sun, Sep 06, 2020 at 05:25:41 AM

Hello everyone and thank you for joining me once again for another Arkanya update! It is super early, oh God why are we doing this at 5am? The final week is almost upon us, as of 2pm EST this Thursday as a matter of fact. Things are starting to pick up a little bit with the fundraising again, and for the most part the mid-campaign slump didn't hit us as bad as it could have. Our project budget is looking strong, and the final stretch goal is within reach! But first we're gonna talk about the one we're much closer to.

Bonus Dungeon

This area is very much still a work in progress, so please excuse the mess!

Sadly I can't show you the inside of it because it'll probably be the very last thing we make. But Rob has been hard at work on the exterior! Those of you who played the Arkanya demo/prototype might have an idea of where this is going to be. If not, this is the church in Arkanya, and the bonus 9th dungeon lies beneath it! 

The story behind this dungeon will take a look at the history of this church, which actually predates the city of Arkanya. Though the surface is a place of peace and serenity, Xolotl's necromancy has corrupted the catacombs below. That's all I'll say about that, though! 

This will be a no-holds barred dungeon for players who have already beaten the rest of the game. Every obtainable item will be fair game when designing puzzles, even those from side quests. Enemies will be brutal. And you can bet it's gonna be long! But the rewards will be greater than you'll find anywhere else, as this post-game dungeon will follow the same philosophy as the rest of the game: Greater dangers give greater riches.     

More Featured Contest Entries

Today we've got several entries from both BulletPetit and Hto_TheCL, both of whom you can find on twitter. I'm starting to think these two are in a competition to see who can overload the contest with the most entries. Or possibly who can get us sued the fastest, as you'll see below. But we'll figure that one out if and when they get selected. 

I love that Hto has started getting Ari involved too! She really deserves it!   

The clock is ticking, so get your entries in! The official last day of the contest is Sunday, Sept. 6th. Whatever is in my inbox when I wake up Monday morning will be voted on! You may post your entries to our contest channel on Discord, DM them to us on twitter, or email them to us at [email protected].     

Dwerve has launched on Kickstarter!

What the heck is a Dwerve? Well I'm glad you asked! You all always have the best questions when I imagine myself talking to you. Dwerve is a dungeon crawler mashed together with a tower defense game!

So not only are you exploring dungeons, looking for treasure, and advancing a story like you'd expect from a typical dungeon-crawling RPG, you're also laying down traps and turrets to fend off endless hordes of enemies! 

Best of all, in my opinion, it has some of the finest pixel art I've seen in quite some time! 

They sent us steam keys about a month ago. It's super fun, I promise you!

Dwerve literally just launched on Kickstarter like two hours ago so don't miss out on those early backer bonuses! Check it out here: http://kck.st/2YzMkB4

I couldn't find a way to make Dwerve about capybaras. I'm sorry, I really did try. Although dwarves are kinda like... no, I can't. It's still great! Please go check out their page at the very least, they really deserve it. 

That's all I've got for you today, please check back Thursday when I'll be showing off a page from the rough draft of our game manual! Thank you all and have a wonderful week!

-BeanBandit, Lead Arkanya Developer

Backer tier discounts and we hit a stretch goal!
about 4 years ago – Thu, Sep 03, 2020 at 02:47:19 AM

Hello again! I hope you're all doing very well today! Let's skip straight into the big news this time:

 Backer Tier Adjustments 

Yup, we're slashing some prices on the upper tiers! 

So first off, we're completely deleting the Design a Capybara tier. Instead, everyone who has purchased or is going to purchase the Kapi pillow will now also get to design an in-game capybara! This includes making decisions about their name, their color, their outfit (yes, they can have clothes!), and their personality. That's double the capybara for your money!

The other changes are that we're discounting Design an Enemy by $250, and Design an NPC by $300! Both of these tiers also come with your own in-game capybara, so you won't miss out on the real prize there. 

For every pillow you buy, we are one huge step closer to our final stretch goal. But also another Kapi pillow enters the world, which is perhaps the greatest reward of all! 

Stretch Goal Reached: Pixel Art Cutscenes!

We talked about this one previously when we first revealed it, but let's go ahead and go over it again for old time's sake! There are multiple key points throughout the Arkanya story which we would like to represent in cutscene form. Some of you may not know what we mean by pixel art cutscenes, because honestly the name isn't very clear. This video of the opening from Oracle of Seasons will hopefully give you an idea of what these will be like: 

Now, not every single one is going to be that elaborate. Some will be panning shots of large pixel art pieces, with a bit of animation to them. We're already starting to plan those out more in-depth and I really think you're going to love them and be more immersed in our world because of them! 

A Preview of Some New Arkanya Art

We now have the official concept art for Ari! This will be featured, along with other incredible Clozy art, in our upcoming art book! 

Just cannot believe how cute she came out, I hope you all fight extra hard to protect her!

Follow Clozy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ClozyOzy, he posts cool art all the time!

More Featured Contest Entries

As usual, I have some more contest entries I'd like to show you all! If you don't know what contest I'm talking about, please check out Update #2!

From our good friend Lou, creator of Dusk Tactics (@DuskTactics on Twitter), it's a crossover costume! 

It's Marisa and Kapi dressed as Emma and Alton from Dusk Tactics! 

Next up is a pirate costume from DubniumGames, creator of Leafvale!

And finally, we have an entry from Kirstie Rutter (@KirstieRutter on Twitter) that includes both pixel art AND a sketch! 

Some of y'all are just insanely talented, I don't even know what to say sometimes. 

Featured Spotlight: Cafe Chaos

Woah, we have a card game to show you this time! 

Cafe Chaos has raised over $300,000 so far, and deservedly so! It's a family friendly card game about the world's most chaotic food fight. You'll have to dodge, hide, and throw epic food combos to avoid being eliminated! Who will reign supreme in this chaotic food frenzy? Could it be you? That's a rhetorical question, all Arkanya fans are winners so obviously it's gonna be you. Click HERE to check out the Cafe Chaos Kickstarter page!

Well this was a long one but we made it, that's all I've got for you today. Thank you all again and I'll be back Thursday for our mid-campaign update as we begin the second half of our Kickstarter campaign!

-BeanBandit, Lead Arkanya Developer

Coming up on the end of an incredible first week!
about 4 years ago – Thu, Aug 27, 2020 at 12:50:03 PM

At 2PM today our first week of fundraising will come to an end, and we are 190% funded. I can't imagine having another week like this one but if the next three weeks combined were as good as the first, we could hit every single stretch goal. 

Now that things have slowed down somewhat, I've had a bit of time to devote to actually working on Arkanya. So what did I spend that time on? Well I'm glad you asked, inquisitiveness is an indicator of intelligence! We now have SNOW!

Hopefully before the end of the campaign we'll be able to show you every weather effect that will be in Arkanya. 

Its also time to start featuring some of the contest entries we've gotten! First off, here's the contest info again: 

From PetitBullet:

From Sparks:

From PetitBullet again:

And finally... from PetitBullet...

You probably noticed that 75% of those are from the same person, and while these aren't all of the entries we've gotten, about half the remaining ones are also from him. What I'm saying is that its stuff very much anyone's contest! So please get us your entries so we can feature them here and on our twitter! 

I also have a bit more fan art I want to share with everyone, once again from our very own Pinkedalink! 

There's a story behind this but its a bit hard to explain! The official concept art for Ari is just about done, so look forward to that soon!

And finally, I actually have another Kickstarter campaign to share with you this time! The game is  Duru, and I was honestly iffy about it at first when the team contacted us. Its a game about depression, so my first thought was "well that's no good, we want to promote games that are fun and happy!"

But Duru won me over as soon as I watched the trailer. Unlike many games about unpleasant subjects, Duru approaches its topic in a more light-hearted way, through a cute but cruel creature named Bel. 

I absolutely love this concept! Bel is kind of like Kapi, if Kapi just bullied you nonstop. Cool rock you got there Tuli, sure would be a shame if I KICKED IT!

The way the creators describe it, it's not meant to be a simulation of depression, but focuses on misunderstandings that can happen in everyday life when someone suffers from depression, as well as offering solutions for the people around them. The goal is to help those who may know someone with depression be able to better understand that person, and better navigate potentially difficult social situations. And I think we can all agree that's a pretty admirable goal, unlike Arkanya which just teaches you to dance and steal things mostly. 

Anyway, please give their page a look, they explain their game so much better than I ever could and the trailer is super fun! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/twisted-ramble/duru?ref=3jr7yv

Thank you all for reading, and look out for our next update later this week! 

-BeanBandit, Lead Arkanya Developer

We have implemented our most important feature ever! (It's head pats)
about 4 years ago – Thu, Aug 27, 2020 at 12:47:51 PM

Good morning, afternoon or evening, wherever you might be! Spirits are high in the Arkanya community right now as we near the halfway point of the campaign. Despite the mid-campaign plateau, we've so far managed to keep every day's funding above $500. I say we, but really it is all you guys. We can shout about Arkanya until we're blue in the face but ultimately we can't make you click that button. So I want to once again thank you all for your amazing generosity and for keeping the Arkanya dream alive!

I almost decided to delay this update since we're extremely close to finally reaching our third stretch goal, the pixel art cutscenes, but we'll get that in the next update! Look for that one Tuesday! Today, I've got something even better.

Ever since we first revealed Kapi, I've gotten countless requests for this. I honestly fought against it (because it's harder than you might think) but I finally caved and here it is: 

You can pet Kapi! I can't promise he'll like it though.

The real challenge is going to be making this work in multiplayer, but we'll figure it out. I would not deprive you of the ability to pet your friends!

Next, I want to share with you this amazing new pixel art from @flufflebear on twitter: https://twitter.com/Flufflebear

For those who haven't played the Arkanya prototype, this is from the scene where Marisa and Ari have their reunion and dance together in the forest. This is one of the most important parts of the story to me, and its so incredible to see it illustrated like this. 

Today's gonna be a short one so let's finish off with some more costume contest entries. Side note on that: If you submit your entry now, you're pretty much guaranteed to get it featured on our twitter page or in a Kickstarter update. Last time we held this contest, probably 90% of our entries came on the last final day, meaning I couldn't feature hardly any of them. And that's a shame. 

These are all from PetitBullet. I'm pretty sure he just does these all day but we love him for it!

Thank you all again and please have a wonderful day!

-BeanBandit, Lead Arkanya Developer