Pinstripe is billed as a a game about heaven and hell. It’s a 2D narrative exploration game with horror elements and a puppy. You play Teddy, an ex-minster who has to journey to hell to save his daughter. She was kidnapped by a strange entity claiming to be god. There’s also a puppy named George.
Your journey to find Bo, the kidnapped daughter, involves solving puzzles, shooting monsters with your shotgun, and finding clues with the help of your puppy. Thomas Brush, the one man behind the game, touts simplistic gameplay as the big feature. You’ll be able to freely jump, shoot, and puzzle-solve your way through the world while interacting with funny characters. Apparently, exploring Hell is “super fun.”
As with any 2D platformer these days, the atmosphere is key to the game. Pinstripe’s art looks like something from the mind of Tim Burton, only illustrated instead of stop motion, and without Johnny Depp. The environments are way more detailed than the characters, who are all kept super minimal, but still well drawn and animated. Watching Teddy’s black-minister-coat-thing sway in the wind as his confused, scared eyes star wistfully into the distance is mesmerizing.
Not much is explained about the story. It’s very much a bullet point list right now. Ex-minister, missing daughter, entity claiming to be God, promise of philosophical questions, cute puppy. I’d like to know a little more about the adventure itself, especially about the characters you’ll meet along the way.
Come to think of it, there aren’t many details of the game available at all. Part of that has to be the simplistic nature of the game not leaving much to say. Part of that is Brush talking about how hard game development is when working alone. He’s also banking on the backing Pinstripe has already received.
While working alone, Brush is getting support from an advisory board he put together. This board consists of Kevin Abernathy from Game Grumps, Tom Fulp, the CEO of Newgrounds, Steve Brush, a software engineer and presumably related to Thomas, and Ben Schipper, a professional illustrator.
There was also a short documentary about the game’s development shown at the 2015 Game Awards, which is mentioned early on the Kickstarter page. You’ll also find the many rewards and nominations the game has received, including from SXSW, E3, and IndieCade. Don’t worry, you’ll also hear about Coma and Skinny, Brush’s previous games that were also award winners which have been played by millions of people.
A comprehensive breakdown of where the money will go rounds out the Kickstarter page. Pinstripe is 60% complete, and he wants to quit working as a freelancer so he can focus all his time finishing the game. Of the $28,000 budget, over $10k will go to development, $6.5k to taxes, and the rest to fun things like Kickstarter fees, rewards, a mortgage, and marketing.
If you need convincing Pinstripe is 60% complete, it’ll be because it looks so complete already. A gameplay trailer shows off the fluid platforming as well as a brief glimpse of the story. Judging by the screenshots and the short trailer, Pinstripe is soaked in a rich, heartfelt atmosphere. Hell isn’t just a lake of fire anymore, but a compilation of forests, caves, a train, and lots of snow. Maybe Hell really is a fun place to explore.
Did I mention there’s a puppy in it too? A talking puppy.
Pinstripe hit Kickstarter just today and is seeking $28,000. It has $3,328 at the time of this writing writing, which is up over $2,500 from when I first started writing. Don’t be surprised if it hits it’s funding goal with plenty of time to spare.
Track the progress of the Pinstripe Kickstarter in our Campaign Calendar.
You had me at talking puppy.
Who doesn’t love puppies?
My sister unfortunately. I love cats, but she’s pro-cat to the point of being anti-everything else.