Nowhere Studios, straight out of Istanbul, Turkey, have launched a Kickstarter to help them end development of upcoming multiplatform puzzle platformer, Monochroma.
Set in a dark 1950s atmosphere reminiscent of Limbo, Monochroma is a story of two brothers pitted against the machinations of a faceless giant corporation, that does its business making robots to deliver to the city. Out one gloomy night in the rain, they become witnesses to an unbearable crime committed by the company, and now have to give chase.
At an early point in the game, the younger brother breaks his leg, and it is imperative that both stay alive for the game to continue. Playing as the older brother, you will occasionally have to put your sibling down to jump or run fast. Furthermore, since you yourself are just a kid, you can only do this where there's light, as you are still afraid of the dark.
The game itself will be a puzzle platformer, boasting a six hour single player campaign and 60 puzzles. The four 90 minute chapters are called Outskirts, Ghetto, Factory, and Zeppelin, and Nowhere Studios boasts no repetition in art assets, meaning every part of the game will be completely unique. There will also be collectible flowers for each of the game's chapters.
Nowhere Studios has designed the story in a very interesting way. Basically, the game will have no cutscenes or narration, and events will unfold in the game in real time. Like a silent Charlie Chaplin film of old, the game requires little to no localization and will be an immediately understandable experience across different cultures. Monochroma also has amibitions with its super-accurate modeling physics, rendering every movement in game as lifelike as possible.
Nowhere Studios has done a remarkable thing with this game. They have been working on it for 18 months and are basically 3/4ths done. That's an eleven person team working on the game for over a year, and even managing to snag band Gevende and artists LOVB&D to make the soundtrack and art assets, respectively.
However, being located in the center of Turkey, the group has toiled in isolation from any major gaming companies or investors, and has now come to Kickstarter to seek help in funding their vision. This is a very giving dev team, eager to publish their game on all the PC distribution platforms (including Desura and Gamer's Gate), the next-gen consoles Wii U, PS4 and Xbox One, and even uncertain portable devices like Ouya, the Vita, Nvidia Shield and Razer Edge.
Part of me wants to see them find a major publisher, but part of me is also interested in seeing this become the latest indie success. The campaign is in its early stages, so we'll check back on it for you in about a month.
Source: Kickstarter
