A while ago, Die Soft announced Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland, a game based on the Winsor McCay comics and a spiritual sequel to the Capcom NES game. Over the last month, the developer has been raising funds on Kickstarter and the $65,000 goal was met by the end of the campaign, with the game planned for Switch and Steam. Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland will be a Metroidvania adventure title with players exploring a non-linear world that has been hand-animated frame-by-frame and containing new ability-granting toys and PJs, various environments inspired by Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo comics, a colorful cast of characters, and much more.
Play as Little Nemo armed with toys, stuffed animals, and a pocket full of candy in this colorful platforming Metroidvania. Explore a vast, seamless world made up of unique zones and full of interesting characters in your quest to save Slumberland from the mysterious Oblivion. All of the characters and environments have been carefully hand-animated frame-by-frame to create a unique and beautiful dream world.
The world of Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland was inspired by Winsor McCay’s early 20th century comic strips, with gameplay inspired by NES platformers from Capcom and Nintendo. It’s been in development for three years with a single developer (David Mauro). The team has more recently added Peter Berkman (of Anamanaguchi) for the soundtrack and Jonathan Baken for Sound Effects.
Key Features
Art – Featuring a lush, hand-drawn frame-by-frame animation at 4K resolution.
Exploration – Slumberland is a vast and seamless world made up of many unique zones for the player to explore as they find new toys and rescue the Guardians. Your adventure will take you to the Dreamswept Plains, Gumdrop Gardens, Mushroom Marsh, and many more unique locations.
Progression – Collect new toys, pajamas, and stuffed animals to unlock powerful new abilities. These new abilities will expand your platforming and combat capabilities as well as open new pathways in the world.
Characters – Featuring characters inspired by the original Winsor McCay comics, as well as completely new characters. These characters will add charm and intrigue to the world, while also providing side-adventures for the player to embark upon.
Music – A soundtrack by Anamanaguchi’s Peter Berkman will provide a sound evocative of NES platforming classics, but without limiting itself to a “chip” sound.
Accessibility – Plenty of options to make the game accessible to a wide audience.
You can see a trailer below
The game is planned for release toward the end of 2023 on PC and Switch.