Journey through Viking purgatory with Jotun

We've seen games about Vikings and we've seen games about purgatory – but this is the first time we've seen a game about Viking purgatory. Jotun is a top-down, 2D, action-exploration game with mechanics inspired by classics such as The Legend of Zelda and Super Smash Bros. It's not hack-and-slash, and the game uses minimal numbers and text, meaning there are no experience points and few stats.

Jotun follows Thora, a Norse warrior who dies a dishonorable death and must prove herself in purgatory, facing off against the gods to enter Valhalla, the glorious Viking afterlife.

"Jotun's core loop revolves around collecting Runes to summon and fight the jotun, gigantic Norse elementals," creator William Dube says. "The game focuses on the balance between atmospheric exploration and ferocious combat. Imagine the mysterious romantic mood of Journey mixed with the scale of the boss fights in Shadow of the Colossus in top-down 2D."

Jotun was Greenlit after fewer than six days on Steam's brand of community-driven purgatory, and its Kickstarter is well on its way to a CAD$50,000 goal, with almost CAD$34,000 raised and 16 days to go. Jotun is due out on PC and Mac – via Steam, of course – by September 2015, with alpha and beta launches before then.

[Image: William Dube]