Kickstarter Shout-out: Ex-Irrational Games Special

In some old sad news of 2014, the talented minds from Irrational Games, the developer behind the Bioshock franchise, were disbanded when the founder of the company, Ken Levine, took 15 people from the developer to make narrative-driven downloadable experiences for Take-Two Interactive. Unfortunately, that left 76 employees without a job. Luckily, during 2014, a lot of them have found new job opportunities, and some of them have even made their own indie studios and have had their projects put on Kickstarter. That is what today’s Kickstarter shout-out is going to be about. We will be covering Day for Night Games’ The Black Glove and The Molasses Flood’s The Flame in The Flood. Like I said, both games are made by ex-Irrational Games employees, and both offer something very different from one another. Let’s take a look at The Black Glove first, shall we?

The Black Glove



The Black Glove puts you in the shoes of the newest curator of a theater in the 1920s called Equinox. The unique element of this theater is that it is pretty much detached from the realms of reality and logic. There are three different people in this theater. You have Marisol the artist, Avery Arnault the filmmaker, and musical act Many Embers. Their work isn’t turning out so great, and is causing unusual events to happen within the theater. You must help them out with the power of The Black Glove to go into the past, and make sure they all have masterpieces in the future. The Black Glove is a first-person exploration game where you traverse through the theater, and travel back into the past to solve the crisis that each of the three different artists are having. How do you solve such problems? You play an 80s-inspired arcade game called The Maze of the Space Minotaur. And yes, I would love to see that become an actual game. Once you complete certain feats in that game, you summon the power of The Black Glove and can change certain aspects of the person’s past, like their muse, message, and medium. It’s a very interesting concept, and I hope to see how in depth this area of gameplay will go.



Even though I know the game will look better once finished, the graphics still look nice. It’s great to see a 3D indie game get on Kickstarter. It reminds me a lot of the art style seen in games like, well, the Bioshock franchise. This game also packs in multiple talented composers. These composers include Rob Danson, Kim Haden, and Malcolm Sosa. I wish I could say what they have specifically done, but besides Rob Danson, who has composed soundtracks for many indie movies, I couldn’t find out much about them, but if you are in the indie music scene, you will probably recognize them.



I think this game has a lot of potential, but my only real concern is that it might be a little artsy for some people. I watched the trailer a couple of times, and even though I really love the idea of the game, some potential gamers might find the game’s design and experience a little pretentious and artsy for their taste. However, if you are looking for something a little more interesting than what most indie developers are doing, you should definitely check this Kickstarter out. Its funding goal is $550K, and it is currently at a little over $96K. I hope the talented minds at Day for Night Games can get their game funded.

(If you want to support their Kickstarter, go to this link!)

The Flame in the Flood



Now, let us talk about The Molasses Flood’s The Flame in the Flood! You play as Scout, as you traverse a post-societal America with your dog, finding resources, making traps, avoiding enemies, and surviving the harsh environments. The Flame in the Flood is an isometric survival game with rogue-like elements and the ever popular permadeath. Like I listed above, you will need to make sure you survive the elements, make sure you heal wounds in a timely manner, make sure you are well fed, avoid the dangers of nature, and many other dangers that you will have to take into account when you are in the wild. You will be traversing on foot, or on a raft across the treacherous rapids. You will also come across different settlements that might have items to trade with if you’ve got what they are asking for.



Graphically, the game has a beautiful art style. Sure, the main character Scout looks a little odd, but the overall look of the game is gorgeous. It reminds me of games like Psychonauts. The game’s atmosphere looks foreboding and intimidating. Nature has taken over and you have no power over it. The music is being composed by alternative country rocker Chuck Ragan. You can hear one of his songs in the Kickstarter trailer, and my goodness, does it sound great. I might even have to download his songs in the future. Chuck Ragan will also have other guest artists like The Camaraderie, The Fearless Kin, and many others.



The only real concern I have is that I hope the rogue-like elements do keep the game varied, and actually make it different each time you play through the game. I have talked about this concern before, so I won’t go into much detail about it. I am very excited for The Flame in the Flood as well, and due to it already reaching its funding goal, apparently other people are also looking forward to this game! The game already has stretch goals with raft customization, different languages, and a PlayStation 4 version. All I have to say is, congrats to the talented minds of The Molasses Flood, The Flame in the Flood gets my Kickstarter Shout-out!

(If you want to support this Kickstarter, go to this link!)

There you have it folks, two Kickstarter games being made by ex-Irrational Games’ people. I am happy to see that these two games popped up, since they stand out among the many Kickstarter games that I look at all the time on the site. I think if you want to support the guys that made some of the most memorable games of the last generation, you should definitely check these two Kickstarters out!