#eggnut

So backbone/tails noir/Eggnut as a whole got shut down. I don’t really know how to emphasize why this was a huge deal to me as well as many other people, because frankly I feel like I’m not a good person to speak on this.

I found Tails/Backbone/whatever at a really weird period of my life, like post-losing my friend in the world because she wasn’t ok with me having time alone with my bf and pre-moving on. And that made things a little easier, I played the two games in a weird order and it made things less scary for me, it made me feel like I could be strong even in the face of really difficult shit and it made me realize that I love life despite how painful it is. Backbone was a game that made me feel I wasn’t small or pathetic, just me.

But even more than that, Backbone was a game that helped me find people who would share my interests and hear me and not judge me for feeling certain ways or doing certain things. It was a clean slate to speak honestly as myself instead of what people expected me to be, and with that I started creating in a way I haven’t ever. I finished projects, I had things to show for me. I fell in love with this community and to see everyone hurt and grow and change and become new people is to remind me what got me here.

Can’t say it was Backbone but I can’t say it didn’t help.

I’m sad, but also not sad enough to call this mourning. I think of it as an opportunity just how the loss of a childhood best friend lead me to creating so much more and being okay with myself. A door closed, and another opens. That’s what I think.

💎 CLARISSA F*CKIN’ BLOODWORTH 💎

I strongly recommend if you like visual novels with noir themes. And cute, furry anthropomorphic animals.

“Backbone is a post-noir narrative adventure. Become raccoon private eye Howard Lotor and explore dystopian Vancouver inhabited by animals as you uncover a deeply personal story of change and transformation.”

Backbone is a game that makes you constantly wonder “What could I have done to change this?”

The answer? Nothing.

This is not a game about choice, but the lack thereof.

All things considered it was a fun experience that truly kept me at the edge of my seat as any good adventure game should. It’s simple gameplay highlights itself as a shorter narrative experience, but it really felt like two separate games, and hey, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

I had some catching up to do with the games on my to-do list, first of which was Backbone. Launched on Kickstarter in May 2018, the raccoon private detective adventure game captured imagination of many, including mine. In my case not just for the furry inhabitants of the dystopian Vancouver, but especially for its dynamically-shaded pixel art.

The game was estimated to release a year later in July. While this didn’t exactly happen (as practically no indie game manages to), there wasn’t much room for disappointment as we still got a full release of the game’s Prologue. Better yet (if you weren’t a backer), it launched as a free chapter on Steam. I finally played it and it’s as great as we expected, pulling me through its one hour of investigating gameplay with great intrigue.

The lighting engine is even better than what the Kickstarter promised. The team really outdid themselves and we since got a chance to hear a detailed explanation of their art approach at Unreal Indie Dev Days (if you’re a gamedev, it’s worth watching as much as playing the game):

Backbone

“Backbone is a pixel art cinematic adventure with stealth and action elements. As private investigator Howard Lotor, you are set to solve detective cases, interrogate witnesses, explore the intriguing and dangerous world around you, and sneak your way to safety using smell-based stealth mechanics. 

Backbone combines the visual and social contrasts of film noir with anthropomorphic animals, retrofuturistic technologies, and dystopian fiction. Crawl through the dark alleys of pixelated Vancouver, and experience the impactful storyline focused on themes of power and prejudice.”

Release: TBA 2019 (PC, PS4, XB1, Switch)

Website | Steam | Trailer | Inspiration behind Backbone