Gamescom 2022 will be taking place later this month from August 24-28. As per usual, gamers can expect quite a lot of new reveals andother announcements to be made at Gamescom. But it looks like one of those reveals has been made early. D-Pad Studio, the developer of the indie game darlingOwlboy, has finally lifted the veil on its long-awaited followup, and it’s probably not what most fans were expecting. Rather, it’s a game with a wacky premise summed up in its title:Vikings on Trampolines.
Among themany memorable indie gamesthat have been released in the last decade, 2016’sOwlboystands out for multiple reasons. The fact that it was developed over the course of nine years is one, to be sure, but the game has garnered praise since launch for its lush pixel-based visuals, memorable characters and story, and its unique gameplay. One of the core features ofOwlboy’s gameplay is the ability to fly at will and without restriction, which makes for one of the more distinct movement mechanics in recent 2D platformers.
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That penchant for making a game around interesting movement has carried over to D-Pad’s next project. Like the name suggests,Vikings on Trampolines, a side-scrolling adventure game, will revolve aroundtrampoline-based traversal. This is absolutely vital to the experience, as illustrated on the game’s Steam page by a GIF showing one of its Viking protagonists straight up exploding upon landing on non-bouncy ground.
Using these trampolines, players will be able to bounce their way through multiple modes. The story mode will set them on a quest to rescue the Vikings’ king from the villainous Baloonie and his balloon henchmen, and they’ll be able to tackle the adventure alone or with friends in4-player local co-op.A party game-esque Versus mode will also give them the option to compete against one another across a variety of stages, utilizing their trampoline skills and different items to see who will reign supreme.
Combined with intuitive “pick-up-and-play” controls and the high quality pixel visuals that D-Pad is known for,Vikings on Trampolinesis shaping up to potentially become yet another strong entry in the indie platformer pantheon. As for when players will be able to try it out for themselves, that remains to be seen. A release window hasn’t been revealed yet, but sinceD-Pad is showing off its new game at Gamescom, there’s a chance that may change in the near future.
Vikings on Trampolinesis in development for PC and consoles.
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