Phantasmaburbia is an indie RPG Adventure game. It has a focus on fun, playability, puzzles and atmosphere.
The year is 201X (twenty-X-teen) and Owl Creek, a small modern neighborhood, has suddenly been overrun with ghosts. Four local kids, wielding weapons found in their homes and assisted by spirits of their ancestors, go on a suburban adventure to fight them.
Screenshots
(Mac coming soon!)
How do you play?
This game is designed to be totally playable with just a mouse. The game was developed and playtested using a touchpad, so that's a fine substitute. You can also choose to substitute keyboard control for the usual walking, if you wish.
What's special about this game?
The general approach I've observed in role-playing game design is to use the classic RPG structure as a starting point; a framework that's tried and true, for the designer to wrap a story around. And that's a perfectly valid approach! But I think it also makes for a spread of RPGs today that are all just a bit too similiar. I wanted to make an RPG that was a game designer's game first. That's why this is a game that has a lot more gameplay than fluff.
For fans of RPGs, many elements might individually come as a shock--there's no NPCs, no shops, and just one town in the whole game. You gain levels in a way such that you're never forced to grind, and the battles themselves are made to go quickly and succinctly (this game doesn't waste your time). The decisions you make over the course of the game have little effect on the story, but have ramifications for your characters' abilities and what dungeons you play. The puzzles are based on spatial manipulation, and require logical thinking beyond memorization or basic lock-and-key archetypes. While I still clung onto some of the superficial bits of old RPGs that I loved like combat menus and inventories, I also worked at every turn to personalize those things or optimize them to make something that's both classic and new. In playing, all of these "weird" pieces fit together very well.
But morseo, this is a game for those who "aren't really into RPGS (anymore)." This is a pervasive sentiment, and one which I share (!!!) My goal at the outset was to make an adventure that I'd want to play--one that was fast and fun, with a good story but also good gameplay. Try it out.
How Big Is It?
The average player gets from beginning to end in about 8 hours, usually missing some of the side stuff. To see everything, you'll want to play through a couple times.
Tell me about the development!
Phantasmaburbia was started around March of 2011 and released on October 31, 2012. I made it in GameMaker 8.1. For the Mac release, I'm porting it to GameMaker: Studio. Using GameMaker gave me total freedom to make the game exactly as I'd wanted it, and let me focus on design rather than a ton of technical detail.
System requirements
- Windows XP, Vista or 7
- 1GB RAM
- DirectX 8-compatible graphics card with at least 32MB of video memory
- Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz or equivalent Processor
- DirectX 8-compatible sound card
- 150MB Space on your hard drive
Where can I buy it?
You can use Fastspring to buy the game directly from me (this means that more of your money goes to me than if you get it from some other distributor). It's tried and true and highly secure. If you have any problems it's probably best to directly contact them, but you can reach me as well @ banov -at- dumb and fat dot com.
The game will come to you DRM-Free, and you'll have access to any future updates or ports (ie Mac).