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Play through a spoiler-free Night In The Woods ghost story
It will be a while until we can follow a cynical, college-dropout cat's struggle with growing up by playing Night In The Woods, but a taste of the game's universe is available right this moment. Developer Infinite Fall has released a supplemental game on PC, Mac and Linux called Lost Constellation, which plays out as a ghost story told within the Night in the Woods universe. Lost Constellation follows Adina Astra's side-scrolling trek through a mystical stretch of woods, weaving light puzzles between quirky introductions and playful dialog. It's a standalone game rather than a demo or preview for Night In The Woods, and a tweet from the latter game's account states that Lost Constellation is "a lot like Night In The Woods and nothing like Night In The Woods at all." A separate tweet suggests that comparable projects are planned, explaining that "NITW supplementals are weird, off-the-cuff, jammed out little games." Regardless of what's to come, Adina's journey lasts for roughly an hour and is available now at the price of your choosing. And don't worry about dampening Night In The Woods' surprises early – Lost Constellation is spoiler free. [Image: Infinite Fall]
Night in the Woods' snappy dialogue inspired by Twitter
The protagonist of side-scrolling adventure game Night in the Woods is a cat named Mae. Like the other characters in the game, Mae acts more human than feline, a 20-year-old college dropout that's coping with both her and her friends' gradual transitions to adulthood. After the PC, Mac and Linux game earned $209,375 on Kickstarter in November, developer Infinite Fall announced a PS4 version earlier this month, which was playable at E3. Writer and art director Scott Benson's work to provide ambivalent quips and behaviors for Mae that complimented the cynical cat's inner dialogue was immediately apparent in the game's E3 demo. It started with Mae contemplating what news reports would sound like if she chose to burn her room down with her in it. After bounding down the stairs, Mae's mom called her to the kitchen to see if she would be home in time to watch an awful made-for-TV movie about a man that kidnapped his wife. There's an open chair, but Mae sits on the counter while the mother and daughter discuss the film's premise at length (providing players choose to keep the conversation going). The to-do list in Mae's diary then updates: "Watch misery porn with mom." Benson, a seasoned animator and illustrator from Pittsburgh that is crafting Night in the Woods' story with his wife Bethany, admitted to Joystiq at E3 that drafting lines for a video game is new to him: "I've never written fiction or characters really before," as his previous animated shorts tended to be of the silent type. Benson had an interesting source of inspiration for his witty one-liners, then: Twitter. As he explained, the social media channel "has the same kind of cadence and kind of vague feelings" as Mae and friends display in Night in the Woods.
PS4 residents to have a monster problem in Night in the Woods
Small towns can get pretty boring, but idle youths usually kick up some pretty good urban legends with an abundance of free time. There's a rumor that something mysterious is lurking in the woods near Possum Springs, and Night In the Woods developer Infinite Fall has spread word that PS4 owners will get a chance to investigate whatever's prowling out there. Possum Springs is more than just a fittingly podunk name – the withering mining town is populated by animals, including Mae, a college dropout that serves as Night In the Woods' less-than-bubbly protagonist. Infinite Falls describes Mae's return to Possum Springs as an exploration-oriented tale, one that focuses on how areas change with the flow of time whether one's around to witness it or not. Of course, there's also the question of what's lurking in the woods, a threat that "might mean an end" to Possum Springs if it turns out to be more than a good campfire story. In response to a question left on the PlayStation Blog post, Infinite Fall's Scott Benson said that Infinite Falls would "ideally like to release [Night In The Woods] in the fall," but obviously ideal scenarios don't always become reality. [Image: Infinite Fall]
Night in the Woods stretch goals include a roguelike from Canabalt designer
Infinite Fall revealed a suite of stretch goals for its crowdfunded adventure game Night in the Woods, teasing the potential addition of a roguelike minigame designed by Adam Saltsman, creator of the landmark endless runner Canabalt. Developed by Aquaria designer Alec Holowka and animator Scott Benson, Night in the Woods reached its initial funding goal 26 hours after flipping the switch on its Kickstarter project earlier this week. The team has since surpassed its first stretch goal of $70,000, ensuring that the game will ship with additional bonus areas and supplemental background animation by artist Charles Huettner. Night in the Woods currently seeks $80,000 to develop an additional set of "friendship quests" that flesh out the game's cast, while $90,000 will fund Saltsman's proposed minigame. The team additionally revealed that it's exploring the possibility of console ports for Night in the Woods, but notes that it hasn't finalized its porting plans or target platforms.
Go on a 2D adventure with your loser friends in Night in the Woods
Adventure/exploration game Night in the Woods achieved its $50,000 goal on Kickstarter after one day on the funding platform. The indie story-focused game comes from Infinite Fall, a two-person team composed of Aquaria developer Alec Holowka and animator Scott Benson. Night in the Woods has players exploring the town Possum Springs as college dropout Mae, a cat with recently-developed "paranormal abilities." Mae joins a ragtag group of "loser friends," including a bear named Angus, described as "that kid in school who wore ties and fedoras for no good reason." Mae's growing abilities grant her access to new parts of the town as the adventure wears on, including an area near Possum Springs' old mine where "something in the woods" resides. Night in the Woods is planned for PC and Mac, and is currently estimated to launch in January 2015. The Kickstarter project will close on November 22.
