The devs at Bravemule are seeking help to seek out mystical beasts (cryptids) on Kickstarter. Well, they're trying to fund their horror adventure game, Southern Monsters, in order to shed light on these monsters. The game is planned for an October release on PC if the $8000 USD goal is met.

The story concerns a teenager who has a fascination with cryptids and is addicted to the internet. By the forum name of the hero, cripplefoot, you can probably guess that he's obsessed with Bigfoot and is living with a disability.

It's your job to help the confused teen make sense of the darkness of the real world while also seeking out the monster said to be stalking the Southern Arkansas creeks.

The devs describe the game as 'choice based interactive fiction' and it seems that cripplefoot's over-connection with his computer will play a big role in the story. You'll use your desktop to research cryptids via different websites, one of which you moderate the forums for.

You'll also have to make sure that cripplefoot is taking care of himself by eating and not getting too carried away in his quest for the beast. As he says in the trailer, 'Actually, I don't know what I'm doing, like in general.'

The Steam Greenlight page lists a few other features of the Southern Monsters:

  • Choice-based narrative design from Kevin Snow.
  • Beautiful hand drawn artwork from Patrick Bonaduce, porcelain cat painter.
  • Surreal music and Foley from Priscilla Snow, nightmare noise sampler.
  • An editor's knife wielded by Kiel Warren, linguistic mess sifter.
  • Graphic design from Mike LeMieux, fine vector craftsman.
  • Illustrations from George Kavallines, the devil's crosshatcher.

With a unique premise and the potential for an engaging story, the game has hit all the right notes for capturing my interest. Even the inspirations for the project, from the works of Croenenberg and Lynch, to the in game copy of The Legend of Boggy Creek, are up my alley.

Some of the campaign rewards for the game are also pretty creative with my favorite being a the $100 tier reward; An actual copy of the Bigfoot romance novella, The Lonesome Wilderness, mentioned in the game. Just look at the cover below:

How can you not be entertained by this cover?

Southern Monsters is already 70% funded with 26 days still left to go. While the devs have not set any stretch goals, the most recent update mentioned the possibility of porting the game to mobile devices. Who knows what monsters lie in wait out there, and who knows if cripplefoot will get the chance to come face to face with them.

The Kickstarter trailer is below:

https://ksr-video.imgix.net/projects/2680743/video-743776-h264_high.mp4