Today feels like we are cycling downhill on an out-of-control bike, with a pocket full of water-balloons and a grin from ear-to-ear. Why? Because Knights and Bikes is coming to PS4!
It’s exciting for us because we’re the biggest fans of PlayStation and its games — we’ve even been lucky enough to work on some of them like LittleBigPlanet, Tearaway, and Ratchet and Clank, and we definitely didn’t want that to stop even after going indie! We’re currently running a campaign on Kickstarter, so we should introduce ourselves properly…
We are Rex Crowle and Moo Yu and together we are Foam Sword! I was the Creative Lead on both Tearaway and Tearaway Unfolded, Moo was the Lead Gameplay Programmer on Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction, and we both worked on LittleBigPlanet. In fact, it’s where we met!
So what are we making now? Well, Knights and Bikes is a co-op action adventure game, inspired by our own childhoods and some of our favorite movies and games like The Goonies, Earthbound, and Secret of Mana.
Knights and Bikes takes place on Penfurzy Island, off the coast of Cornwall; a place of medieval legend and modern tourism. Our story starts in 1987 when the island is under threat from a number of forces, ancient and modern, which can only be tackled by the island’s most overlooked heroes: its children.
You play as Nessa, Demelza, and their gang of helpers. Nessa is an outsider from the mainland, who is searching for her family’s past. Demelza is an imaginative local who still believes in the island’s ancient legend (spurred on by her favourite video game). Together they explore the island on foot and on bikes, seeking the truth, searching for treasure, recruiting new gang members, and learning more about the adult world.
The island might be under threat, but how will our heroes deal with it? By fighting like kids! Use your ingenuity to splash enemies with mud or swerve a Frisbee past their shields; hack video game hardware to use against them, or build a lance and surprise enemies with some bike-jousting!
Knights and Bikes is a dream project for us. A combination of childhood memories, the power of imagination, and the wonderful gift that video games can be. While you can play it on your own and it’ll be a great experience, it’s also built for co-op play, so you can team up with a friend and explore the beautifully hand-painted world together.
And this is why we think the game is perfect for PS4, as PlayStation has always been about bringing people together. And with SharePlay, you can even reunite with that childhood-friend who moved far, far away.
We’re so excited to bring Knights and Bikes to PS4 and we hope you’ll ride along with us!
I’m disappointed to see you say that it relies on SharePlay for online. SharePlay is no substitute for native online play. For one thing only the host earns trophies in SharePlay. I hope you’ll re-consider not having online play built-in.
Moo here. Totally understand. Online co-op is something we’d love to do, but we don’t want to promise until we’re 100% sure we can deliver it. :)