One of, if not the, most critically acclaimed PlayStation Move game (Johann Sebastian’s Joust) is currently pushing a Kickstarter with several other award winning local multiplayer critical hits to try to come to PSN, and their community driven campaign is destined to fail at this point without your intervention.
What is Johann Sebastian’s indie darling exactly? Joust is a screen-free PlayStation Move game where you attempt to rattle or knock your opponent’s controller, all while controlling your movements in correlation to the tempo of the music.
Joust is hopefully going to be bundled into a $15 PSN package alongside 3 other games in what they’re calling “Sportsfriends” in addition to Joust, Sportsfriends includes (click the corresponding links for gameplay footage):
- BaraBariBall: “A fighting/sports game for two or four players. Players score by dunking the ball in the water on the opposing team’s side but lose a point for falling into the water themselves.”
- Super Pole Riders: “In Pole Riders, two athletic men pole-vault into the air to try to kick a ball, suspended on a rope by a pulley, into their enemy’s goal.”
- Hokra: “A fast-paced, competitive game for two teams of two players each, Hokra features simple controls and minimal rules while retaining the depth that makes multiplayer games exciting for advancedplayers.”
Let’s see, we’ve got descriptions, and gameplay – how about we look at the numerous awards these titles have amassed?
Johann Sebastian Joust:
- Innovation Award, Game Developers Choice Awards San Francisco, USA 2012 (beating out LA Noire and Portal 2!)
- Finalist – Grand Prize, IGF San Francisco, USA 2012
- Finalist – Nuovo Award, IGF San Francisco, USA 2012
- PAX 10, PAX Prime Seattle, USA 2012
- Impact Award, IndieCade Culver City, USA 2011
- Best Technology Award, IndieCade Culver City, USA 2011
Hokra:
- IndieCade Audience Choice Award, 2012
- No Quarter Commission, 2012
Barabariball:
- IndieCade Selection, 2012
- Best Creative Design Award, hóPlay 2012
- Finalist – Sense of Wonder Night 2012
[Credit: Mare Odomo]
As it stands, Sportsfriends is not going to receive any funding. The collection has had almost a month to raise $150,000, and they’ve only collected $92,000 dollars so far. If anyone is interested in getting these games on PS3, PC, Mac, or Linux then please checkout their Kickstarter. You can pledge $15 to essentially pre-order your copy of the game, or if you’re particularly eager to test drive them, you can contribute $30 to play the alpha versions of the games soon after the campaign ends (along with the full game of course.)
This article may read like an advertisement, but it’s really just one journalist with no ties, or affiliation to Sportsfriends trying to do what he can to help push this incredible looking set of indie titles.
With 3 days left – do you plan to support Sportsfriends? Let us know in the comments below.
