Robotoki Studios is an indie game studio based in California and founded by a man named Robert Bowling, the former Creative Strategist for the Call of Duty series. He’s certainly no newbie to the industry, having lead Infinity Ward for seven years. Robotoki’s first project was Human Element, a post-apocalyptic game that is not planned for release until 2015. However, the studio has just announced a Kickstarter for another project that, if they collect enough funds in time, will be out November of this year.
The game is called The Adventures of Dash, and it’s a colorful 2D platformer/puzzle/adventure title planned for PC release (with mobile and console releases possible in the future). The game’s protagonist, Dash, seems to be your typical boy- except for the fact that he suffers from narcolepsy and falls asleep without warning.
Anywhere and everywhere is a potential nap spot for Dash. While awake, players can direct Dash around his town and can have him interact with several NPCs, solve puzzles, and find items in the environment. Dash will sometimes suffer a sudden onset of sleep during your exploration.
And that’s where the variety of different levels come in. The environment you and Dash find yourselves in depends entirely on where Dash fell into a snooze. As the game’s promotional video shows, every one of these levels has a distinct look and its own game mechanics. This is due to every level being created and managed by a completely different artist, making every one unique from the other and from Dash’s waking world.
The developers of The Adventures of Dash have admitted that they were heavily influenced by games they played as children. In the promo video, Bowling says he was inspired by “… the type of games that I grew up on, that I loved. You know there’s 2D, platforming, side-scrolling, puzzle adventure games that dominated the Super Nintendo era. And that’s what we set out to do with this game.”
The game’s Kickstarter deadline is April 3rd, and its current goal is $400,000 with plenty of rewards available for the generous. $15 will get you a digital copy of the game and the game’s soundtrack; $10000 will get you an entire wing of an in-game museum dedicated to you, complete with statue. You’ll also be invited to Robotoki Studios for a day and to the game’s launch party. Between those two extremes are seven other levels of donations/rewards, so be sure to check out the Kickstarter page to see them all. My favorites are the custom SNES and NES boxes/cartridges.
Interested in learning more about the game, and/or donating to the cause? Check out the widget below for how the project is doing so far. Clicking it will also bring you to the game’s Kickstarter page.
So far, it looks like The Adventures of Dash will be a creative and lighthearted game fueled by nostalgia. I for one have already put my donation in.
