Two unique and highly intriguing games recently went up on Kickstarter. While they couldn’t be more different from each other they are still oddly similar; not to mention they both went up almost the same time. Pinstripe and Lancelot’s Hangover, both 2D adventure games (although one is more of a point and click) that focus on religion. While Lancelot’s Hangover is a drug induced retelling of Monty Python’s The Holy Grail (which was already a drugged induced retelling) Pinstripe is a bold and stunning story of an ex-priest in hell. Traversing the different parts of hell in search of his daughter Bo. Unless my knowledge of religion is grossly out of date I would think the fact that he has a daughter may have something to do with why he is an ex-priest.
Visually and soundtrack wise the game is already fantastic, almost unbelievable considering it is all being done by a single person. It is normal to be concerned about a project when it has such a small team due to lack of ability or just not having the required skill already within the group. For a single person to produce everything with such skill is a very unusual thing. Usually at a minimum most projects need outside help for at least one aspect, generally the music. While not the traditional hell, the examples provided display such a detailed, polished and immersive atmosphere it is hard not to get lost in it while coupled with the music.
A 2D side scrolling, platforming adventure game it feels a lot like Mario meets Zelda… if Mario had a shotgun. While there isn’t much explanation on gameplay or puzzles yet it seems to be driven mostly by exploration and puzzles. The description even says it has multiple zones or worlds to traverse including cave, lake and train? It must be one giant train to need its own entire level. The description does make a point to note that the game features simple gameplay though. While this could be a good thing in order to bring in more casual gamers it does bring up some concerns. Most notably is the fact that Pinstripe is supposedly primarily a puzzle game. If the puzzles are too easy though what kind of challenge will it offer more advanced gamers. There is some gun play apparently but that seems to be minimal right now. There is also little mention of how many or how often monsters appear.
Self-described as ‘An emotionally charged story about fatherhood and Hell.’ there is little to no other information on the story. Teddy is in hell for some unknown reason and needs to find his daughter who was taken by the self-acclaimed god. Some more information would probably help but I’m honestly not concerned about the story falling flat. With the amount of work put into everything else it seems doubtful the story isn’t what it says it will be. Besides finding Bo however players will uncover clues about their past. Whether this is built into the story or just a side quest is the real question that may open up the story to various possibilities. Pinstripe has already been big news and easily made its goal within the first day and has doubled that in a few days. You can check out more or get it for yourself below.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/80348891/pinstripe-an-adventure-through-hell?ref=category
