SCARYGIRL - Visit the Official Website
Based on Nathan Jurevicius’ Scarygirl graphic novel – winner of the 2009 Aurealis Award for Best Illustrated Book/Graphic novel – Scarygirl presents a wondrous adventure into a distinctive and beautifully bizarre world. The titular character Scarygirl is an abandoned child with a tentacle arm who dresses like a pirate, and is haunted by a strange man in her dreams. She sets out into the world to discover the meaning behind her bad dreams, but Scarygirl is hardly helpless, as she has a tentacle-powered arsenal up her sleeve.
During her adventure, Scarygirl will be aided by her friends and guardians from the graphic novel, Blister the giant octopus and Bunniguru the mystical, kung-fu rabbit. Her friends and an ever-improving arsenal of combat moves will help her face down enemies like the adorably deadly hedgehogs of the Owl Woods, the violent Goat Clan along the Old Man Mountains, Hairclump spiders deep in the Stinky Swamp, and the most enemiest enemies of all: the clueless crossing guards around Bad Town!
Features:
- Amazing Art and Design: Surreal landscape and creatures are beautifully fantastical, created by a critically-acclaimed, award-winning artist and true to the art style that Scarygirl fans have already fallen in love with
- A Curiously Wonderful Stand-Alone Chapter: The game features a new and exceptional storyline separate from the graphic novel and planned feature film, in which Scarygirl finally meets the mysterious man haunting her dreams
- New Moves, Weapons & Upgrades: The game’s upgrade and combat improvement system allows Scarygirl to grow beyond her basic attacks by purchasing new moves, like an the “Anaconda Squeeze” and “Morph Tendrils”, or attachments for her tentacle arm, such as the Rage Hook
- Co-Operative Play: While one player controls Scarygirl, a second can bring Bunniguru’s furious “Fists of Blurry” into the fray at any time. This offline feature allows the two characters to perform special moves together to overcome major challenges
GCM: Thank you for your time! Please get us started by introducing yourself and telling us about the team at TikGames working on Scarygirl?
Peter: My name is Peter Dassenko – I’m the Producer here at TikGames. In my spare time I enjoy reading the jelloetry of Bill Cosby-Bukowski. We have a team of very talented artists & engineers that worked on bringing Nathan’s world and art to life. As a Producer, I merely watched the magic happen (and made some nifty schedules in Excel)..
GCM: For those of us unfamiliar with Nathan Jurevicius’ graphic novel, can you briefly setup the characters and situations gamers can expect to find themselves in?
GCM: On a scale of Alice in Wonderland to Coraline, where would Scarygirl fit in for overall tone of story and visuals?
Peter: Scarygirl has a very unique visual style all its’ own. I think it deserves to be compared to those styles, but it’s certainly a unique vision.
GCM: Nathan Jurevicius created some oddly unique characters in his graphic novel. How many of those are going to appear in the game as either NPC or playable co-op characters?
Peter: Initially you’ll play as Scarygirl, and in co-op a second player can play as Bunniguru. Bunniguru controls differently and has his own moves. Many of the other characters from the graphic novel appear as NPC characters in the storyline as well as ambient characters.
GCM: Since this game is expanding beyond the graphic novel, how much input did Nathan Jurevicius have in the story and overall design of this game and what was his impression with the finished product?
Peter: Nathan had quite a lot of input on the project. He has consulted at all stages in our development. Near the end of the project he came out and spent a week with us going over each level and tweaking things. From the fog values to the lighting direction, he really had a good sense of how the levels should look.
GCM: With recent releases like Rayman Origins and Trine 2 it seems the side-scrolling platformer is making a comeback. What is Scarygirl going to do to shake up the genre and what will gamers most likely remember after playing this game?
GCM: How different is this new console version of Scarygirl going to be from the browser-based game released in 2009?
Peter: They’re entirely different games, aside from inhabiting the same universe and the plot point of Scarygirl venturing to a city. This new game is 3D and was built from the ground up, whereas the flash version is 2D. The gameplay, including attacks and how Scarygirl controls in general, are very different. The console version is very much an arcade game.
GCM: What was the motivation for releasing this as a XBLA/PSN title rather than a retail release?
Peter: Downloadable platforms like XBLA & PSN are a real sweet spot for a developer/publisher like us. You can make a really creative game at a cost far lower than a retail title & you can sell it for far less so gamers don’t have to drop a bundle of cash. You can also learn a lot from the whole process, so if and when you do want to release a retail game, you’ve got some experience on what works and what doesn’t.
GCM: Are there any plans for Scarygirl to release on the iPad or PC/Steam anytime soon?
Peter: Steam will be coming sometime early this year. We’re also exploring other platforms as well. A world as weird as this shouldn’t be confined to only a few platforms.
GCM: Thank you again for your time! Do you have anything to add that I may have missed or something you’re particularly proud of in this game?
Peter: We’re working on downloadable content for Scarygirl. I can promise you it’s going to be awesome!
Scarygirl is currently available on Xbox Live Arcade and is coming soon to the PlayStation Store and PC/Steam. Check out these cool screenshots and get ready to embark on one of the most original adventure-platform games of 2012...
Peter: The game follows the story of Scarygirl, a little girl who was abandoned and raised by an octopus named Blister, and who has befriended a mystical rabbit named Bunniguru who gives her advice. Blister appears at the beginning of the story, giving Scarygirl her quest to find out why weird things are happening in the forest that she lives in. Bunniguru initially appears in the Dojo to help Scarygirl learn the combat system in the game. You meet other characters from the graphic novel as you progress through the game, but I don’t want to spoil any part of the storyline by giving specifics!
Peter: I think Scarygirl does a number of things differently. With regards to gameplay, Scarygirl has a move unlock system that is rare among side-scrollers. As you progress through the game and collect gems, you can use those gems to purchase more powerful moves. Usually these moves consist of a 3 or 4 button combo. Gamers will probably most remember the many environments the game has. Scarygirl has 7 different worlds, each with unique enemies, ambient characters and scenery.
