Well, of course, you can. You’re Battle Princess Madelyn!
A project that originally started as an idea between father and daughter after many hours playing Ghouls ‘N Ghost, Battle Princess Madelyn has decimated its funding goal with one quick swipe of the sword and is working on hitting more stretch goals up until its Kickstarter campaign ends. This dream project has quickly become a reality for the father/daughter team, and I had a chance to sit down with developer Christopher Obritsch from Causal Bit Games and talk to him about the game and the process behind it.
GameSkinny (Angelina Bonilla): On your Kickstarter, it states that you made this game for your daughter, who’d watch you play Ghouls ‘N Ghosts and wanted to be in the game itself. Are there any other games she watches you play that get her as excited as Ghouls ‘N Ghosts, and has she given it a go herself?
GS: While playing through the demo, I noticed that there didn’t seem to be quite the same difficulty curve as there was in the game it was inspired by. You can respawn quickly after all your lives run out. Are you planning on making multiple levels of difficulty that the players can choose from, or is it just going to be a consistent level throughout?
GS: With the immense success of your Kickstarter, how long do you think it’ll take to add all of the newly met stretch goals to Battle Princess Madelyn, or were you planning on adding those anyways?
You will also be able to set different difficulty modes the traditional way as well, so beginners to platforming can play a nice, light version of the game that still lets them experience the story, collectible items, and exploration of the big maps!
GS: Will your dog companion, Fritzy, you find at the beginning of the game, be the only sort of help you’ll be getting? Or will there be a wild assortment of creatures following Madelyn around giving her a variety of abilities and helpful power ups?
GS: The boss fight in the demo only gave you three lives before it reset to the beginning of the fight again. Unlike the rest of the game, this was the only encounter that actually limited the amount of times you could die. Are you going to do this for the bosses throughout the rest of the game? And if so, are you going to put an indicator of just how many lives you have left in classic game style?
GS: Your choice to use two types of soundtracks in the game was an interesting way of going about it, especially in regards to allowing your players choose between them. What gave you this idea in the first place?
In the upper left-hand corner, you have an armor HP system. The number in the pre-alpha is a placeholder, but it lets you know how much HP you have left. In the upper right-hand corner of the screen is Fritzy’s Soul Magic meter. This number has to be above half in order for him to bring you back to life!
GS: Looking through though the Kickstarter, I noticed there was no indication that the game would be available for Mac or Linux platforms. Why is that?
GS: Would you be willing to make more games like Battle Princess Madelyn, taking a classic retro game and adding a new twist to it?
GS: Outside of it selling well and being received positively, what sort of reactions are you hoping from your general audience and what sort of audience are you looking to attract with Battle Princess Madelyn?
GS: Since Madelyn is the creative assistant in all of this, does she have any enemies or powers in the game that she likes the most?
I know she really enjoys watching us bring her ideas to life, too. She was over the moon the first time she saw the skeleton boss freaking out! As far as the audience goes, we’re trying to attract anyone who is willing to have fun. We’re trying our hardest to make this game accessible to children, yet flexible enough to also be as hardcore as it needs to be for an old school gamer who is looking for those familiar mechanics in a new experience!
I would like to thank Causal Bit Games’ Christopher Obritsch for taking the time to answer my questions. Battle Princess Madelyn looks like just the right mix of retro fun with a zesty twist to the formula which will make you keep coming back for more. Check out Causal Bit Game’s website for more information. If you want to show your support, there’s still time to back Battle Princess Madelyn on Kickstarter!
