Rex Rocket: a platformer full of pixels, menacing AI, and space burgers

Yes — it was the space burgers that captured my interest, too, but there's more to it than that. An adorable mashing-together of space-age rocketship technology and yesteryear's happy, pixelated aesthetic, this is looking like a promising addition to the indie scene.

Rex Rocket is the story of a starship campaign whose precious terra-oozeling cargo has escaped, causing his ship's computer, LAUREN, to go nuts. You're tasked with cleaning up the mess before the starship reaches "New Detroit," of course. In that respect, it sounds sort of like a hypercute System Shock 2, but with a cafeteria that serves space burgers instead of griddled zombies.

Rex's gameplay is standard jump-and-shoot platforming, but it's the style that really makes this—that's some of the finest chiptune music I've ever heard, and it makes battling lightning-spewing hoverbots just that much cuter. Over on Kickstarter , $10 will get you a copy upon release, estimated in January 2014; chip in $18 for beta access.

The campaign's already hit its minimum target for PC development, but developer Rob Maher tells PC Gamer that the campaign will soon be updated with some additional stretch goals that'll make all versions—including PC—more robust. Reaching $12,000 will get players a special backstory scene explaining how the dashing Rex Rocket earned his name; meanwhile, hitting $14,000 guarantees an additional 25 levels. Good golly.

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