Israeli-based indie developer Adventure Mob have launched a week-long Kickstarter campaign to fund their point and click old-school adventure game, Bolt Riley: A Reggae Adventure Game.
Taking place in 1970s Jamaica, the game follows the trials and tribulations of the curiously named Bolt Riley, an impoverished young man who fights through harsh living conditions to become a reggae superstar. Along the way, Bolt must resist the temptation to lead a life of crime as he goes down the more difficult path of writing songs and putting together a band to play his music. Lead developer Oded Sharon said of the game:
In this harsh time of war in Israel, I decided to focus on creating a positive game experience and bring joy to our audience, and Bolt Riley does that with a story of peace, love, and of friendship.
Taking cues from old-school point and click graphic adventure games like The Secret of Monkey Island, Bolt Riley features hand-drawn 2D that is traditionally animated. Players will come across a variety of quirky characters and engage in puzzles and exploration. Of course, reggae music factors heavily into the game, and a full blown original soundtrack will permeate the experience
Three chapters are planned that chronicle the protagonist’s journey to superstardom, but right now Adventure Mob are seeking funding for the first chapter. $31,668 is sought for this brief campaign, and with four days to go they have amassed $9694, so they have quite a bit of catching up to do.
Adventure Mob have sunk in over $300,000 to make Bolt Riley, and a previous Kickstarter campaign to raise $120,000 failed last year. This time, they are seeking a much smaller sum in a much smaller window. “Most of campaign’s funding usually comes in the 3 first and 3 last days,” their Kickstarter page rationalizes, “So why not make a campaign just for those days and forget about the long dead period in the middle?”
Bolt Riley is planned to be available on the PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, OUYA, PS4, Xbox One, and Wii-u on the rather appropriate date of April 20 in 2016. An early alpha demo can be downloaded for those who wish to get an idea of the game.
Adventure Mob was founded in 2011 by Oded Sharon, whose previous work includes Zbang, Pizza Morgena and Star Shipping Inc. and is based in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Collaborating with them on Bolt Riley are Lori and Corey Cole, the creators of the classic Quest for Glory series.