“James – Journey of Existence” Demo Exclusive to Kickstarter Backers

My Kickstarter for hand-drawn 3D adventure indie game “James – Journey of Existence” (http://kck.st/19wTNSh) got a couple pledges this week, one of which nearly doubled the pledge count (not difficult, given how low it was a few days ago). Promising.

From the beginning of this Kickstarter, I promised that backers would receive an exclusive demo before the end of the Kickstarter campaign. There were a few reasons behind this: it was a very nice incentive for the $1 tier, and it was like a last-minute demo that might convince backers to increase their pledges a bit (or remove their pledges completely, if they so felt that way). And in the likelihood that the Kickstarter campaign fails, backers would still get something as a sign of thanks for their early support.

After a couple stressful weeks actually making the extra content for the demo, I can say it is completed, and the demo will be made available today to Kickstarter backers.

What exactly does the demo contain that is different? It has a second button in the main menu that separates it from the original demo (so players don’t have to slog through the gameplay to get to it if they had already done so). The new level takes place right after the end of the free demo, and in it, James meets a friendly old man named Jeppe that offers him a suggestion to find a certain person in order to recover his memories and his name. Behind the tiny house he lives in, a puzzle/platforming sequence must be solved to reach a boat that will take you off into the sunset, where the next level would occur. The end.

Honestly, the demo isn’t too grand. Jeppe in particular was hastily drawn, and only in one angle, and so looks somewhat crude. Jeppe’s house is a little bland. The boat James rides off into the sunset is misshapen. But the good stuff to look for: Jeppe’s moustache moves as he “talks,” the first attempt at rough lip-synching that all the characters will eventually get. Jeppe’s dialogue gives a couple hints about where the story leads next. More important than any of that, the platforming section is a real head-scratcher (you must rotate the platforms using the coloured orbs to make a path to the boat in the sky), and is indicative of some of the puzzles you will encounter in other parts of the game (which will hopefully make inventive use of camera effects and audio effects as well). If the puzzle stumps you, the back of Jeppe’s house holds the key.

And the link for the demo can be found here: … wait, no it can’t. It’s exclusive to Kickstarter backers, so at least pledge a dollar to get it! I may make the demo publically available in a few weeks, but may also keep it exclusive in favor of waiting to show you an updated version of the game. Technically, there’s no DRM on the demo or its link, so there’s nothing stopping Kickstarter backers from sharing it with all of you should they so choose.

Or you could just watch the walkthrough of it down below (youtube gameplay footage).