Kickstarter roguelike FranknJohn coming to Linux, Mac, PC
FranknJohn, the head-swapping roguelike that allows you to smash in funhouse freaks with your magical noggin, has just landed on Kickstarter. Having been influenced by the early Nintendo days with games like Zombies Ate My Neighbours and Ghoul Patrol, to more recent games like Dark Souls and The Binding of Isaac.
Young FranknJohn is a failed experiment of a deranged scientist, Dr Harmin. He wakes, with no memory, bursting from his grave, with a head that can only stay on his body with the help of a chain. FranknJohn is far from helpless however, as his flaw becomes his strength - he can swing his head wildly round to smash away the plethora of strange creatures that roam the mansion.
Fling FranknJohn's chained head around with full 360° control
Experiment with dozens of Skullcaps that alter gameplay in many different ways
Randomly generated sprawling levels packed with items, collectables and secrets
Swappable body parts allow you customize your stats to your playstyle
Original Soundtrack by the wonderful Ben Prunty
Battle through four horrifying worlds and piece together the dark history of its occupants
Perma-death, challenging enemies and powerful bosses will keep you on your toes.
BitSmith Games is looking for £30,000 (roughly $50,000 USD) to finish the project, which is slated for a release on PC, Mac and Linux. Pledge over £8 ($13.30 USD) and you get to download an arena build of the game pretty much immediately. Pledge over £500 ($835 USD) and you get to become a random NPC.
The final game will have music by Ben Prunty, incidentally. That's the man who scored FTL. That's a hearty combination of talent. Even the alpha footage is looking impressive. So we here at Linux Game News are keen to see more from BitSmith Games, especially with a playable build for backers.
