Hello, dear reader, and welcome to Kaiju Games' first ever blog post! In this post, I hope to introduce myself, Kaiju Games, and the latest game that I'm working on: Epiphany Investigations!
Kaiju Games and Epiphany Investigations
First, my name is Will Molina, and I’m the founder and sole developer at Kaiju Games. Kaiju Games is what I’m calling this small, indie game business, and the name comes from the love that I have of all things Japan and geek culture. I have been making small games since 2014, but this will be my first time working on something of this scale, and something which I hope to share commercially. As the only person working on this game, manpower is a bit lacking, and so I thought of working on something that’s more doable by a one-man team—which leads to Epiphany Investigations.
Epiphany Investigations is a project that I have been actively working on for the last six months, but which has been marinating for years. It's an adventure game where you take on the role of Private Investigator Erik Martinez as he solves crimes and mysteries around his childhood town. You will do this by interrogating suspects, working with Erik’s partners, and by using the various tools that Erik has at his disposal. This city is alive and if you listen close enough, it might just tell you a few stories.
Who is Erik?
Erik Martinez is a former cop who decided to give it all up and go into the private sector. He was born in the local hospital, but his parents are latino immigrants who fled their war-stricken country. He grew up in East Las Palmas and has a deep passion for it, and he has dedicated himself to protecting it. With the help of two of his friends, he runs a small private investigation firm where they put their skills to use in anything from finding information for clients and even solving crimes around the city. Besides having skilled colleagues who can lend a hand, Erik also has a few tools and abilities that he will put to use during his adventure.
Being set in the present day, it’s hard to think of anyone not having a phone in their pocket, and in Erik’s case, that’s no exception. His handy phone includes an array of apps that will help him whenever he needs a lead on a case. He will be able to call, text, and email contacts, or if he needs more information on people, locations, or pretty much anything else, he can consult the police database (which they may or may not have permission to use).
I believe the mind is a powerful thing, and when given enough information, it will fill in the rest of the details. I commissioned the talented Zack Frost (@dyingmars on Twitter) to create a more detailed portrait of what Erik looks like outside of the game. Now that you’ve seen what he looks like in a really detailed manner, your mind will fill in the rest of the details of the rectangle that you play as in the game.
2019 - The Future
The plan with this project is to bring it to as many people as possible; to those who are fans of adventure games, crime/mystery games, or just indie games in general. I hope to accomplish this by first finishing up a demo version for PC and Mac so that anyone can try it out. Once you play it, if you feel that this game is for you, I hope that I can have your support when I launch the Kickstarter campaign early next year, perhaps January or February.
If you haven’t already, sign up for the newsletter below and follow on Twitter and Tumblr. More on Erik’s colleagues, tools, and special abilities (!?) in a future post, so stay tuned!