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We call Minotaur a "point and click visual novel". It's a puzzle/adventure game with a visual novel-style narrative, which tells a dark mystery story set in a newly created science fantasy world.
We're trying to make something new, and even though the shadow of Zero Escape looms over a bit, we still think that Minotaur is unique
You can quickly learn about the game by watching this short Kickstarter (more about that in a moment) trailer:
Yes! We've recently launched our Kickstarter. UPD: we're now 2/3 there (our goal is €30K). If you like the game, please consider supporting it!
How do you know if you like it, then? Play the demo:) It's approximately one hour long (there two chapters from first route, a cutsene, a movie and a some extra stuff), and it features complete voice over done by some great actors. There are PC and Mac versions. Here are the links:
If you're stuck at Nod's or Maya's, check out our spoiler-free walkthrough. We'll have some questions about the demo for you at the end of this post!
With that out of the way, let us tell you about the game. There's so much to tell... but we'll try to keep it short! If you want to know more, you can always check out our Kickstarter page, or just ask us here.
Here's a GIF which neatly summarizes Minotaur gameplay:
And here's a list in case something goes wrong...
Gameplay features already in 0.2.1:
• point-and-click exploration and puzzle solving,
• visual novel-style narrative in complete voice over,
• rich and detailed sci-fi setting,
• character skills,
• hint system.
Coming in full version:
• timed sequences and boss fights,
• multiple choices which affect progression and endings.
Minotaur tells a story about a group of characters who find themselves unable to leave their own home — "Royce apartments" building.
Tensions rise as things start to take turn for the worse and it becomes clear that their unfortunate situation is not an accident, but a trap of elaborate design. Revealing the identity of its creator and understanding their motives becomes the matter of life and death.
The story unfolds from perspective of five different characters, and although you can only unlock routes in succession, your actions and choices in each of them have universal effect.
Minotaur is a dark mystery centered around two themes: wonderful state of obsession and definition of consciousness. It's a mature story told in a non-linear fashion.
We try to contain ourselves and avoid walls of text. Not all story comes from dialogue, so by exploring Royce building and interacting with environment you decide how much you want to learn about characters, their world and what's really happening to them.
We believe that strong and memorable characters are at the heart of every good story — making a connection to them is important to immerse yourself in game world. That's why we tried to make our characters relatable (as far as androids, cybermaids and talking penguins go) and down to earth.
Take a look at this short trailer (called Acronym... hmm) introducing 8 primary Minotaur characters:
And if you'd like to get to know them a little better...
Each character has 10 to 20+ expressions.
And voice over... Did we mention voice over? Which brings us to next part...
We're a small indie team, but we put a lot of effort into production values. Here are some screenshots from the game:
(You can check out full HD versions of these and other screenshots on our website.)
There are 150+ backgrounds, and almost all of them are animated.
Minotaur also features some great music by a number of composers. Primary genres are lo-fi trip-hop, IDM, futuristic electronic music and orchestral fusion. You can check out several tracks here.
Before starting to work on Minotaur, we spent almost a year working on its setting. We wanted it to be detailed and consistent, so we created a world with its own history, geography, rulebook and characters. We called it The Universe of Seven, and we hope that Minotaur will be the first in a series of games set in it.
(You can check out full HD versions of this and other U7 art on our website's wallpaper page.)
If you want to know more about the world, take a look at this interactive map (click to go to website):
...for checking Minotaur out! We hope you liked what you see and decided to support the game. If you have any questions, let us know in comments here or on Kickstarter (or anywhere else, really).
We have a couple of questions for you, too!
Regardless of whether you played the demo:
[1] Is there any information about the game you would like us to add, or clear something up?
[2] If you checked out our Kickstarter page, did you like the rewards? Would you consider supporting Minotaur... Or maybe you already did? (In which case let us know, so that we could thank you here!)
If you played the demo (thank you for taking the time!):
[3] Did you encounter any bugs? If you did and screenshot is applicable, we would really appreciate one. We also need to know your OS version!
[4] Did you like the VN aspect of the game: world, characters, dialogue, voice over?
[5] Did you like the adventuring/puzzle part? How hard were the puzzles, and did Ollie's hints help?
[6] What about the UI? Were you comfortable with navigating menus, exploring the world, solving puzzles?
We're looking forward to your feedback
Last edited by u7committee on Mon May 01, 2017 10:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Zelan wrote:...Wow. This looks super cool, super polished, and just...wow. Count me in for sure.
Hi, Zelan! Thanks a lot for checking us out! We counted you in:) By the way, we downloaded The Dark mentioned in your sig and tried it out, and thought that it's built around a really cool idea. We hope that you won't stop there!
Zelan wrote:...Wow. This looks super cool, super polished, and just...wow. Count me in for sure.
Hi, Zelan! Thanks a lot for checking us out! We counted you in:) By the way, we downloaded The Dark mentioned in your sig and tried it out, and thought that it's built around a really cool idea. We hope that you won't stop there!
Oh, wow, thank you! ^_^ It was originally meant to stay how it is but I'm definitely considering doing more with the characters.
Zelan wrote:...Wow. This looks super cool, super polished, and just...wow. Count me in for sure.
Hi, Zelan! Thanks a lot for checking us out! We counted you in:) By the way, we downloaded The Dark mentioned in your sig and tried it out, and thought that it's built around a really cool idea. We hope that you won't stop there!
Oh, wow, thank you! ^_^ It was originally meant to stay how it is but I'm definitely considering doing more with the characters.
We followed you on itch.io... We'll be watching @__@
wow this looks really great! Did you build this in ren'py??? You've got some really nice game mechanics there I'll have to check it out. I'm not usually into sci fi stuff but man... this just looks great
Scribbles wrote:wow this looks really great! Did you build this in ren'py??? You've got some really nice game mechanics there I'll have to check it out. I'm not usually into sci fi stuff but man... this just looks great
o.o
Thank you, Scribbles! We're actually using Visionaire Studio to build it, just because we needed those extra point and click and animation mechanics. It's a nice and user-friendly engine... not very suitable for VNs, though, so we had to write a bit of extra code to make things easier. Once we're done with the game, we'll upload custom scripts to their wiki and make a post here about using Visionaire for making visual novels. We're not affiliated with them in any way, so it's not an advertisement - just thought about suggesting an option for VN creators
Anyway, we hope you check Minotaur out and like it... despite sci-fi setting By the way, Pinewood Island looks great, good luck with soft release in September!
We wanted to vote for "A Hand in the Darkness" on Steam, but it turns out you've already been Greenlit - congratulations! UPD: and it seems you had a successful Kickstarter campaign, too - wow The game looks really nice - good luck with sales!
Scribbles wrote:wow this looks really great! Did you build this in ren'py??? You've got some really nice game mechanics there I'll have to check it out. I'm not usually into sci fi stuff but man... this just looks great
o.o
Thank you, Scribbles! We're actually using Visionaire Studio to build it, just because we needed those extra point and click and animation mechanics. It's a nice and user-friendly engine... not very suitable for VNs, though, so we had to write a bit of extra code to make things easier. Once we're done with the game, we'll upload custom scripts to their wiki and make a post here about using Visionaire for making visual novels. We're not affiliated with them in any way, so it's not an advertisement - just thought about suggesting an option for VN creators
Anyway, we hope you check Minotaur out and like it... despite sci-fi setting By the way, Pinewood Island looks great, good luck with soft release in September!
Oh- that's cool. I'll check it out when I've got some free time ^ ^ thanks for the well wishes
I don´t know how is gonna be the story, but the main character and the arts are just so AMAZING! Congratulations and I hope you can make your Kickstarter Campaing a great succesful!
johandark wrote:I don´t know how is gonna be the story, but the main character and the arts are just so AMAZING! Congratulations and I hope you can make your Kickstarter Campaing a great succesful!
Thank you, johandark! We hope the story will keep up:) Pact with a Witch looks great, by the way (the story sounds intriguing, too), and you're certainly having success with it on GJ and Patreon! Early access for patrons seems like a cool and working idea. Congrats, we wish you best of luck!