Greetings, everyone! A quick bit of news regarding what we've been up to since we last updated you.
In short, we've been working on our new game, called
{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33377471/3456b0ab98a35a427a055defc903842aa166e15c.png
{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33377471/e3f5ae2474fcf79c8eea006e22deb34ec991e0e1.gif
It’s finally summer! You’re 18, you’ve just graduated highschool, and the road ahead is as blurry as it is open. All your friends have decided what colleges and universities they’ll be attending, but you, well… You’d rather think it over while playing video games.
Suddenly, a letter from your great-aunt Domnica arrives. She lives in Transylvania, and she’s inviting you over for the summer. Seems like a perfect way to clear your head and decide what it is you want to become in life…
{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33377471/1bf4826b9faf98c9b78f2e30b2d1a469a55521ca.png
But what if, once you’ve arrived, you discover that both you and your great-aunt come from a long line of witches, and you are offered the possibility to
enroll in the Transylvanian Institute for Magick?
A summer in dark and storied Transylvania, and a chance to become a
Near-Mage.
Near-Mage is a narrative-heavy adventure game with a bit of role-playing DNA that aims to appeal to hardcore players of the genre and newcomers alike.
{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33377471/2ecb7ac251163cbc49f1f19f334a1ecefc8c160f.png
- ✨ Study spell crafting in the Transylvanian Institute for Magick as a mage-in-training - a Near-Mage;
- 📖 Experience a deep and engaging story that plays like an adventure game;
- 🛠 Craft your own spell inventory, use it with different results in every play-through;
- 👨👩👦👦 Dozens of unique characters in and around the Institute for Magick - your spells change their lives for better or worse;
- 🧛♀️ Vampyres, pricolitch, moroi, strigoi, ghouls, shtima, and more mythical Romanian creatures to interact with;
- ⛰ Over 80 lushly rendered environments hand-painted in glorious 4K resolution;
- ✏ Traditionally animated frame-by-frame;
- 🔍Darkly colorful atmosphere bolstered by meticulous on-location research of myths and folklore;
- 🎻 Rich cinematic orchestral score
- 👗 Dozens of itemized outfits and hairstyles to customize your main character;
- 🖱 🎮 Switch from pointing and clicking with your mouse to direct control via gamepad on the fly;
- 🦇 A game about Transylvania made by Transylvanians!
Now, for the question that is probably on everyone’s minds…
{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33377471/e2b56e4411f58e7a4e85345032021d1a7faef5f1.png
YES! ...And no. Sort of! 😁
Think of Near-Mage as an
expansion of the Kittehverse (we’re only half-kidding when we call it that). While it has a different protagonist and a brand new set of characters, it is
set in the same universe as Gibbous, after the events of the first game. It will also
tie up narrative threads that were left hanging when Gibbous ended, and see
fan-favorite characters return.
We are writing the game in such a manner that you can enjoy it without having played Gibbous, but are probably getting a bit more out of it if you have.
We’re very invested in the world Gibbous and Near-Mage take place in - we hope you are, too! - and we want to keep expanding it by telling more stories within it, hopefully with you guys by our side.
{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33377471/9694fc202f03d8dc0763275f03df8fdaf0f9d564.png
Wishlisting Near-Mage would help us tremendously. A game’s future fate is actually written when its Steam page goes up, since Valve’s algorithms analyze how popular it is and will dole out traffic to it accordingly in the future. So, if you can,
give us a wishlist & follow and maybe tell a friend!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1685870/NearMage/
{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33377471/0096770ba5dc321630ab3560b0acda93a478003b.png
Will Kitteh be in this game?
If you’ve watched the trailer you know the answer already (Spoiler: hell yeah).
Will Don / Buzz / Piscilla / Olmstein / other characters etc be in Near-Mage?
We are keeping things under tight wraps for now, so we’re not confirming anyone other than a certain evil tuxedo cat. However, rest assured that we will tie up loose ends, and fan favorites will make significant returns.
I enjoyed Gibbous but the story confused me a bit, will Near-Mage be confusing?
We’ll address this in a separate update, but the short answer is no. We’ve studied a lot and leveled up narratively in the meantime. Near-Mage will have a much more traditional, focused story with a “classic”, easy to follow outline. Less Lovecraftiana and more Transylvaniana. That doesn’t mean you won’t be able to jump into optional side narratives… But let's not give too much away! 😉
Is Near-Mage Lovecraftian?
Trying not to give too much away - the answer is yes, but not in such an overt way as the first game was. Gibbous was a love letter to Lovecraft,which pleased cosmic horror fans but might have confused the rest - Near-Mage’s narrative will be much more accessible to everyone.
Still a point-and-click adventure?
Yes, and then some! There are a lot of cool mechanics we’ve come up with, which will be detailed in the upcoming crowdfunding campaign. Also, you’ll be able to play both point-and-click and by controlling the main character directly via gamepad.
Making narrative games with a dark cartoony vibe is sort of our spiel, so if you’ve enjoyed Gibbous we’re pretty confident you’ll dig Near-Mage, too.
{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33377471/a40a9450f8d59ac3fb0d1005fa9ac0b9c24afb07.png
Maybe you didn't know, but Gibbous was made possible by a
successful Kickstarter campaign back in 2016. We loved the experience, and so did our backers, so we decided to
crowdfund Near-Mage.
If you've enjoyed Gibbous and you can lend a helping hand on Kickstarter, we'd love it if you decided to...
Join the Cult again!
{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33377471/1cb326bba554f74d557d3d6845b203e32b2ca1a1.gif
{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33377471/4f18012ca3712492b9e5a83b589de22c43349578.png
Will you join us in an exciting crowdfunding ride?
We would love to have you on board for Near-Mage’s Kickstarter.
Hope you're as excited as we are about continuing to tell stories in the
Kittehverse.
Thanks again for supporting us, hope to see you there when the Kickstarter launches!
Liviu, Cami, Chris & a bunch of cats
PS: Happy to reply to questions in the comments, but please keep in mind we're keeping some stuff under wraps for now 🙂
