As a lady, it’s always exciting to play a video game with a strong heroine at the lead. Whether it’s Alloy in the new Horizon Zero Dawn or an old favorite like Laura Croft from the Tomb Raider franchise, strong, independent, female leads provide excellent role models for anyone playing video games. Causal Bits Games’, Battle Princess Madelyn, is adding another strong female lead to the line-up with their newest pixelated adventure.
Battle Princess Madelyn is a pixelated adventure based on the imagination of the developer’s young daughter, Maddi. The game focuses on a warrior princess in training named Madelyn. She is forced to put her skills into action when her family is captured by an evil wizard and she must fight to get them back. Like any good princess, Madelyn is accompanied by her furry ghost companion, Fritzy, and you must find the missing pieces of his guardian soul. While the game takes place in medieval Ireland, the story will whisk Madelyn all over the world. Can you save your family? Can you assemble the pieces of Fritzy’s lost soul? Causal Bit Games’ most current project is any 80’s arcade lover’s dream.
Causal Bit Games’ most current project is any 80’s arcade lover’s dream. It’s a beautifully pixelated masterpiece that pulls you into the nostalgia of your childhood gaming from its soundtrack to its gameplay. The game is heavily inspired by the famous Ghouls ‘n Ghosts and you can definitely see the connection between the two. The artwork was also heavily inspired by 90’s Capcom side-scrollers peppered with a few elements from Duck Tales, Rastan, and Shadow Dancer. While Battle Princess Madelyn is very reminiscent of a pixelated arcade adventure, the game sets itself apart with its open world feel. The levels are pretty open and allow for a lot of exploration instead of a linear start to finish set up.
Battle Princess Madelyn is the second title to come from Causal Bit Games’; the first title to come from the studio was Insanity’s Blade: The Chronicles of Thurstan. The game focuses on the journey of a father into hell to save the life of his wife and child, and it’s based on a graphic novel done by the main developer at Casual Bits. Overall, the team has eleven people on it; 6 working on the game itself and 5 working on the marketing side of things. Daven and Chris are a part of the core team that is bringing Maddi’s, Chris’ daughter, ideas to life. While John and Javier work on the game’s audio. Chris stressed how much he has loved bringing his young daughter’s ideas to life. And while he can’t quite incorporate all of her ideas, she has some pretty incredible ones!
The team has been hard at work on Battle Princess Madelyn for the past three and a half years and the game is currently in its pre-alpha stage. However, the game took off on Steam’s Greenlight and the game was greenlit in just six days! After the quick success of the title on Steam, the developers are currently raising funds on Kickstarter as of this week! Upon release, hopefully, sometime in 2018, the game will be available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo’s Switch, and PC.
Luckily, I had the opportunity to get an early look at Battle Princess Madelyn and I was instantly hooked. Even as a pre-alpha build, the game looked and played like a charm. And more importantly, it’s just a lot of fun to play. I was immediately drawn into the world of the game and battling the enemies that came with it. Most pixelated games have a tendency to be on the easier side, and that is definitely not the case with Battle Princess Madelyn. The game was pretty challenging, and every time I would die, I’d just keep coming back for more. This is definitely a game I’ll be keeping an eye on in the months to come!
On a parting note, Chris had this to say about working on Battle Princess Madelyn:
We are putting all of our love and dedication into this game. It is first and foremost for Maddi after all. I’ve never worked with a more passionate group in my life! Everyone working on it is as excited as the next and we all have fun doing what we’re doing. Even when Daven and I have to work super late nights we keep each other company on Skype with terrible jokes. Even Dan and the rest of the PR team on the other side of the planet will join in on our Skype calls and we always have a good laugh. We hope that the love that we put into this game – whether it’s through art, audio, or story – is felt as deeply by the people who play it as the small group who made it!
This game, and the team making it are all a product of love, and that is something I can get behind 100%. Although, it makes it a lot easier when the game itself is a lot of fun to play, as well. This is definitely a game I’d recommend following and keep an eye on The Nerd Stash’s Indie Corner for more indie games and projects coming your way!
