Update: The Lighthouse, Shadow Knight Studio's debut horror venture, has now wrapped up its Kickstarter campaign more than three times over budget.
A total of 758 people contributed $35,385 over the project's $10,000 original ask, and while localisation and additional level Stretch Goals were reached, the developer is considering continued funding via Indiegogo's inDemand initiative in order to ascertain more.
Here's what it says on that:
"A few of you have asked if we will continue funding on Indiegogo inDemand to reach more stretch goals. We've honestly never thought of doing this but would like to take a vote on who thinks we should or shouldn't continue on Indiegogo inDemand. Indiegogo inDemand has reached out to us to put The Lighthouse on their platform, but we want this to be completely up to you Knights! Let us know your thoughts in the comments and click here to take a quick Yes or No vote."
Should that tickle your fancy, the above link redirects to a Survey Monkey questionnaire. Otherwise, a free demo for The Lighthouse can be found over here. Original story below.
Original story:
Shadow Knights Studio's first foray into videogame development came courtesy of the 2013 one-time game jam project Love Monsters, which eventually found its way onto the App Store. The developer's first PC outing offers a pretty seismic shift in tone towards a "uniquely crafted thriller with glimpses into psychotic, alternate dimensions". That's called The Lighthouse and it's now peeked its head over its $10,000 Kickstarter ask with 21 days left before its campaign expires. It's also got an alpha demo, available to backers.
I'm on a bit of a survival horror kick at the moment, having recently returned to The Evil Within. Despite not being overly enamoured by Tango Gameworks' 2014 slice of scare-fuelled fare, I'm loving it this time round—and there are elements about The Lighthouse that naturally remind me of that. That's not to say the latter doesn't stand on its own—The Lighthouse is an exploration-leaning thriller infused with puzzle elements—however its flashes of supernatural occurrences echo that of Silent Hill or Shinji Mikami's esteemed works.
Here's The Lighthouse's latest cinematic:
And here's the skinny as per its Kickstarter page:
"The Lighthouse takes place on February 19, 1964. You play as James Irvine, a former detective turned private investigator in the state of Maine. Irvine is a man who solves the problems that the city doesn't have the inclination to follow-up on, little less solve. Many of the lucrative cases that come to his office are from locals with various requests, from spouses looking to expose infidelity in their relationships to business owners looking to gather enough evidence to incriminate their partners.
"February 19, 1964 is an important anniversary for PI Irvine as it’s the day he lost his first born, Lily, to cancer 7 years prior. Every year he visits her, placing a yellow lily and lit candle on her gravestone before watching it burn until extinguished. This tradition had never been broken—until today. As he packs to leave his office, candle in hand, he notices a letter slide under his door, the envelope marked: ‘Irvine.’
"He opens it and reads: Mr. Irvine, My daughter hasn't come home for 2 years, 4 months and 9 days. You see, she's missing. She was involved in the old lighthouse incident, you may remember her name—Lily. I've asked the local authorities to look for her, but they haven't got a clue. They tell me horrible things that no parent should hear. They tell me to accept that she may have died. Worst, they tell me they can't help. I can't sleep until I know where she is, if she's safe, if she's scared, and if she's trying to come home but can't find home. Help me find her. Look for her at the Lighthouse, as that was her last known location."
With that begins protagonist PI Irvine's quest into the eponymous lighthouse.
According to the game's Kickstarter page, its Early Access iteration will be ready come October this year but if you'd like to give it a whirl before then, it's alpha demo can be downloaded over here via the crowdfunding campaign. You'll need to pay $1 or more to access that, but it can also be found on IndieDB free-of-charge.
If you'd rather watch the demo segment in its entirety, you can do so here:
