I've written about the 16bit inspired adventure game Mars Underground before. I found it hard not to fall for the unapologetic quirkiness of the title and the high concept of the gameplay (a looping day cycle). Heck, I even became a minimal backer at $6 AUD.

It's been interesting following along the Kickstarter adventures of the one man dev team (Matt Sanderson). His updates usually contain new story elements for the game with locations and characters. But the most recent message celebrated reaching the halfway mark of the low $3,142 AUD goal. It also outlined how Mars Underground had made it to Steam Greenlight.

The story follows along a teen on his first day of school as he tries to get through it intact. Problem is that the world ends that night and Mars is forced to relive that 24 hours again and again. Two unique locations revealed for the game are Phobos High and Loon-R-Land. The first day of high school can be rough, especially when it's run by a media company obsessed with 'TV-based courses in educationalism'. Who knows what the principal, Mr Moloch, has planned. Meanwhile, the planets align on the Loon-R-Fest grounds. You can explore and haunted house, get your fortune told, and (probably) find some clues relating to the end of the world.

Mars Underground is being made in RPG Maker MV and this will turn many people away. But dig a little deeper and you'll find an interesting tale trying to be told. I can't guarantee it will be any good but there's this low-fi charm that is hard to ignore. Plus, it's not like the dev is asking for a lot of money to fund this project. There's also a demo available to give a try before you pledge.

If you're interested you have until December 31st to back the game. The game has an estimated release date of September 2017 for the PC. You can also vote for the little RPG that could on Steam Greenlight.