A Vampyre Story: Year One takes flight on Kickstarter

Written by Jack Allin — June 1, 2013 at 11:36

It turns out that the road to Draxsylvania leads through Kickstarter, as Bill Tiller has just launched a crowdfunding campaign for his origin adventure story A Vampyre Story: Year One.

We were first introduced to opera singer-turned-reluctant vampire Mona De Lafitte and her wisecracking sidekick bat pal Froderick in 2008 as the two sought to escape the castle of a scheming vampire baron. But how did the two come to meet in the first place? That will be the focus of this "short, episodic length game" that Tiller says will be "about one third the size of A Vampyre Story, and have about five total hours of game play."

In Year One, Mona has been the baron's captive only a few months when she sees little Froderick surrounded by "nasty looking bat thugs" and in desperate need of help. Unable to stop them herself, she will need to thoroughly explore Castle Warg to find assistance. Along the way, she'll meet a host of unusual creatures, including "Arachnea Rose, a rather large and intimidating spider; Poe Possum, a vile and tick-ridden vermin; and the three Belfry Boyz - Slim, Brat, and Rocco, their pugnacious leader. Inky, the local lake monster, and Shrowdy Von Keifer, Mona’s vampire captor and master, both make an appearance, too. Mona also has to deal with a pair of man eating plants and makes a new female friend… or is she a friend?"

As you'd expect from the artist behind such games as The Curse of Monkey Island, The Dig, and Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island, the new game will feature "hand painted 2D backgrounds, and have 3D animation, real time lighting, and 3D characters models" in the distinctive Bill Tiller style, as teased in the Kickstarter pitch video.

With a fair bit of work already invested in Year One, Tiller hopes to complete the game as early as October, but to do so he's seeking $200,000 on Kickstarter by July 1st. A modest $8 pledge will grant you a downloadable version of the game on PC (and possibly other platforms if as-yet-unannounced stretch goals are reached), while higher level contributions will earn rewards such as the game's soundtrack, radio drama MP3s, video art lessons, a boxed version of the game, and of course a variety of digital and printed artwork by Tiller.

To learn more about A Vampyre Story: Year One and to support the fundraising campaign, visit the Kickstarter page for full details. But don't wander too far off, as we'll have an in-depth interview with Bill Tiller posted soon here at Adventure Gamers.