Introduction
This Halloween Knight is a turn-based RPG / dungeon crawler in which your party transforms into real versions of various Halloween costumes in order to alter their stats and abilities. It is being developed in RPG Maker MV, and an early-development demo was released last October (Available here: LINK TO DEMO). We are looking to recruit several positions (mainly artists) to further bolster this demo, which will be used to acquire funding to produce the full game.
Plot & Gameplay Synopsis
In This Halloween Knight, you take on the role of 13-year-old Arthur Ironheart, a boy in love with fantasy stories who dreams of being a hero. However, Arthur’s life is changed forever when his longtime crush, Princess Nova, asks him to be her date for the Halloween Dance. But Arthur’s dream-come-true is short-lived when an Evil Witch unleashes a curse upon Arthrur’s hometown, transforming them into real versions of their Halloween costumes. As the spell takes hold, she kidnaps Princess and commands her new army to hunt down those unaffected by the curse. Arthur, however, finds himself able to transform at will without falling under the Witch’s control. With his newfound powers, Arthur teams up with his friends, and together, they set out on a quest to defeat the Evil Witch, rescue Princess, and discover the mysteries behind the curse, including why they were spared and how to stop it.
The core gameplay involves swapping between different Halloween costumes to best suit your current situation in battle. Upon defeating an opponent, you claim their costume, which can be equipped to allow use of the abilities you just fought against. Each costume starts with just one Active and one Passive Ability. But duplicate costumes can be stitched together to upgrade them, unlocking further abilities.
Each costume fills a different role in battle and provides stat boosts that synergize differently with each party member’s base stats. For example, the Werewolf is a fast attacker that can dish out fixed damage and is very useful in the early game, working best when worn by a party member with high ATK. While the Zombie is a slow support-focused costume that can inflict status conditions on the opponent to deal damage over time; and usually works best on a party member with high DEF. Players can mix and match costumes freely before the start of their turn to try out all kinds of combinations.
There are currently twenty-one different costumes available in the early-development demo. Sixty-three costumes are fully functional within our tester’s demo. However, while we are currently unsure how many will make the final cut, we have plans and documentation for up to 200 costumes in the final game. These costumes are full of personality, ranging from classic monsters like a Vampire to wacky costumes like Ketchup and Mustard bottles, and even those bootleg popular character costumes you’d find in Halloween pop-up shops.
Main Characters & Themes
The storyline of This Halloween Knight revolves around themes of identity. Each of the main characters begins the game wrapped in storytelling tropes. They are middle schoolers undergoing a crucial phase in their life where they develop long-lasting personalities and opinions of their own. As such, as the game progresses, the overall tone darkens, and the tropes begin to unwrap, revealing far more complex characters underneath. This all reflects the gameplay; as the characters are discovering their own identities, they are literally trying on different identities through the various costumes.
Arthur Ironheart
Arthur is the main character of the story and the best example of this concept of unwrapping tropes. He begins the game as a typical ostracized nerd obsessed with fantasy stories. And when the curse begins, he is the first one to step up and try to be a hero. He always puts the needs of others before his own, but as the game progresses, players will realize that Arthur actually has a hero complex and a “storybook perspective” on the world. He will obsess over “protecting his friends” and putting himself in danger just because he is the hero. Throughout the story, he will work towards overcoming that part of himself and learns what it means to be a true hero. Arthur’s default costume is the Knight, and he specializes in Physical Defense.
Luther Shinobi
Luther is Arthur’s best friend. He is skilled with technology and even has some hacking skills. At the start of the game, he constantly tries to act more mature than he actually is, claiming to dislike Halloween because it is childish. His arc involves growing past his fear of judgment from his peers and learning to just be himself. Luther’s default costume is the Steampunk, and he specializes in Magic Defense.
Kilian Brandt
Kilian is the leader of a group of bullies that pick on Arthur and Luther. They put on a mask of overt and stereotypical masculinity to impress their peers and their bigoted father. In reality, they are grappling with their own gender identity. Their arc involves learning to accept themselves and the support of their friends. Kilian’s default costume is the Handsome Devil, and they specialize in Physical Attack.
Sabrina Ironheart
Sabrina is Arthur’s younger sister. In the past, she’d constantly rely on Arthur for support, but now that he’s moved on to middle school, she seeks to prove that she can do things on her own. Her arc involves gaining self-confidence and learning to stand up for herself. Sabrina’s default costume is her custom-made “Huntress” costume, and she specializes in Luck.
Termite
Termite is Sabrina’s pet frog. She places a little crown on his head before the curse, causing him to transform into a human prince. Despite this, he still has the mind of a frog. Termite acts as a major source of comic relief throughout the game. Uniquely, Termite can only equip his default Fair Prince costume, but he can unlock many exclusive “Frog Abilities” by eating collected fireflies found scattered throughout the world.
The Evil Witch
This Witch is the source of the curse that plagues Arthur’s hometown. She delights in taunting Arthur throughout his journey. Her true identity is unknown to Arthur at first, but she has kidnapped Princess and appears to have some history with Kilian as well.
Princess Nova
Princess is the daughter of one of the richest men in the country, also the most popular girl in school, as well as Arthur’s longtime crush. Like a dream come true, she asks Arthur to the Halloween Dance, but her motives behind this are unclear. She’s kidnapped by the Evil Witch when the curse begins and Arthur sets out to save her.
Roles Needed
Our team currently consists of three members: a general designer focused on gameplay and narrative, a dedicated level designer, and a producer who also works on narrative alongside the designers. We have briefly worked with a handful of artists in temporary positions for concepting as well. We also work with various Testers on our developer Discord server. The roles we would currently like to fill are detailed below in order from most important to least important.
· Very Important:
o Character Artists (for full 2D renders, overworld sprites, and in-battle sprites; at least 2 required, preferably more)
o Environment Artists (for both overworld tilesets and battlebacks)
· Important, but not urgently necessary:
o Music Composer
o JavaScript Programmer (knowledge of GitHub is a major bonus)
o Social Media Coordinator
· Extra
o Additional General Designers
o Additional Level Designers
o Additional Testers
If you are interested in any of these positions, want more details, or have any questions, please send us an email at: thkdevelopmentteam@gmail.com
If you want to check out our early development demo, you can download it for free here: https://albino-pigeon-productions.itch.io/this-halloween-knight
We hope to hear from you soon!