Retro sci-fi adventure Bik flicks onto Kickstarter

Written by Jack Allin — March 19, 2013 at 16:08

Crowdfunding may be the way of the future, but it's also a good way to connect with the past in games such as Zotnip's retro sci-fi adventure Bik.

Bik follows the plight of a young boy who is "abducted by aliens while on a camping trip with his friends. After joining forces with two friendly alien mercenaries, Bik escapes from his abductors and must find his way home." In order to help him, players will not only need to do plenty of point-and-click adventuring, but also pilot a craft through 3D space to complete certain objectives. There will be some battle encounters as well, but indie developer Mike Pinto claims that these will be skippable for those who'd prefer to bypass them entirely.

As seen in the game's first screenshots and teaser, Bik is a blatant throwback to the classic days of Space Quest and Star Trek: 25th Anniversary with its blocky pixel art and space exploration. Largely a one-man operation, the current plan for this tribute game is to launch by the end of this year. For that to happen, however, the developer will need $12,000 by April 15th through Kickstarter to help pay for artwork and various software licenses. Pinto plans to release the game even without successful crowdfunding support, but that would impact the game's visual quality and animations and even reduce content.

Pledge tiers begin at $8 for a DRM-free download of the game on Windows, Mac, or Android devices. (An iOS version is also in the works, though at present is not covered by Kickstarter contributions). Additional rewards at higher amounts include such bonuses as a companion prequel comic, soundtrack, early beta access, and even representation in the game itself. Visit the Kickstarter page for complete details.
 

Update: There is now a short playable demo of the game available for download.