Kickstarter campaigns can be a mixed bag, however, I always keep my eye on new upcoming campaigns. When you’ve worked in reviewing games as long as I have, it becomes at least somewhat easier to tell which campaigns are going to be promising. Usually, games that start with something to show do better than completely new projects. Curse of the Sea Rats already has a visual identity, ahead of its upcoming Kickstarter campaign which is coming June 2^nd.

Curse of the Sea Rats is a hand-drawn “Ratoidvania” by independent developer Petoons Studio. Petoons Studio is a relatively small indie developer, who released Petoons Party (a Mario Party-style game) back in 2019. However, what makes this Metroidvania look promising is the visual style. It reminds me a lot of cartoons I watched when I was a kid, such as The Rescuers, or American Tail.

Here is what the official press release announcing the Kickstarter campaign has to say about Curse of the Sea Rats.

“Curse of the Sea Rats packs all of the best features from the Metroidvania genre featuring beautiful 2D hand-drawn animation and 3D environments, combined with unique real-time combat mechanics, and of course, lots of rats! Explore the island, battle diabolic creatures, and fight brutal bosses commanded by the evil pirate Flora Burn. Forge your own path to freedom in a non-linear quest through the vast and mysterious coast of Ireland in 1777.”

According to the press release, this Kickstarter campaign will hopefully, “help them to get more funds to finish the game and cover the costs related to the animation, production, and development. Funds will be critical to complete the project without compromising the art and quality.” The fact that it is already well underway and has a visual identity already, is promising. Hopefully, the Kickstarter will have realistic expectations, and offer something that people can rally around. Here are the features that were listed in the press release for the developer’s vision of the game so far.

• Classic hand-drawn animation like the golden era of Disney and Don Bluth.
• A perfect mix of 2D models crafted on a 3D game environment for a 2.5D side-scrolling platformer experience.
• Explore a huge map with hundreds of rooms, in a non-linear quest, solving puzzles, and fighting enemies on the coast of Ireland in 1777.
• 4 playable characters, jam-packed with weapons and special abilities to upgrade.
• Discover all the secret rooms, special items, and multiple endings.
• Single-player mode: more than 12 hours of gameplay for the main quest
• Local Co-Op Multiplayer mode: up to 4 players.
• Spectacular intros and animations to discover the story behind the characters.

With all that in mind check out the Kickstarter campaign for Curse of the Sea Rats when it launches on June 2^nd, 2020. I am cautiously optimistic about the direction of this game, so hopefully the developers can see this through to a satisfying conclusion.

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Also, if you’d like to join the Phenixx Gaming team, check out our recruitment article for details on working with us.