Metro Nexus Puzzle Platformer Needs Your Help

The developer recruited a series of talented and accomplished visual artists and traditional 2D animators, giving them each a level or two in the game to completely re-interpret in their own unique style. It’s a first-of-its-kind concept for a video game, and to bring it into the world, the developer is asking for your help.

Game Description:

One day, you discover an ancient worldwide network of rapid underground lines, probably built by aliens or something. If put into service, the Metro Nexus would link all the rail systems on the planet, make neighbors of everyone on Earth, and unlock the key to everlasting world peace!

And so, armed with purpose, you retrofit an old repair trolley and travel from city to city, providing much-needed connection and power to the planet’s long-suffering commuters! You’ll need to navigate smartly, avoid obstacles, and not accidentally kill anyone… all while avoiding capture by the World Municipal HR department!

Gameplay

Gameplay in Metro Nexus, a blend of 2D platformer and “endless runner,” is an homage to an old Arcade/NES game called City Connection, which I loved as a child but few others seem to remember.

In Metro Nexus, the player drives a vehicle which can jump between platforms, turn around, speed up or slow down… but it cannot stop. Each platform is made of tiles which are powered up when the player drives over them. The player advances once they have powered up every tile in the level.

The real challenge is to find the most efficient path to “solve” each level, requiring careful timing and creative thinking. Every tile you drive over more than once brings your efficiency rating down, which will lower your score… and look bad on your employee review.

Where You Come In

The developer is asking for $3,000 to help fund the artists working on the project. To create the game, each artist will need to design and animate all of the game’s elements for their level(s), including the player avatar, enemies, platforms, power-ups, and background elements. This involves not just the design work itself, but research and gameplay implementation.

Additionally, there are some direct costs, such as development hardware and memberships to Google and Apple developer programs.

Although the game is currently playable, there is still much work to do on the development side. This includes testing for multiple platforms, implementing features and unlockables, and of course, general testing and debugging.