Crowd Sourcing for Monsters Eating Cake

If you’re not well-versed in the way Zelda works, I am thrilled to inform you that Link to the Past, the second installment in the game’s series, is fun as all get out. It’s also a great blackhole for time. And occasionally a good reason to shake your fist at a screen.

If you’re not well-versed in cake-eating, then I am sorry.

Hopefully, though, you can grasp the concept of how awesome both of these things are, and I am thrilled BEYOND thrilled to tell you they have been combined.

An employee of local graphic design firm Seven2 and one other Spokane-to-Portland-transplant may or may not have made the cutest game ever.”Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake” is currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign to become a multi-device-compatible phenomenon, featuring small creatures who solve puzzles to get to the next part of a mystical island. Blending elements of classic dungeon games with the whimsy of “Adventure Time,” it looks like it has the makings of America’s Next Cute Obsession.

“We still have quite a road ahead of us,” writes Justin Baldwin–the aforementioned Seven2 employee based in Portland, and Creative Director of SleepNinja, “a game development company created by a group of friends who grew up with the birth and boom of the video game generation.”

“We reached out for funding somewhat early in the game because of the limitations on not having our licensing and some devices…We also just started working with Disasterpeace about two weeks ago. So there is still a lot of audio and sound design to do. We are currently shooting for a summer release though.”

The design behind using Kickstarter, Baldwin explains, is to allow the team behind the game more creative control, creating a more connected feeling between the player and the game designer. “It’s more personal and intriguing, and we want to be able to do this with our game.”

Citing Miyazaki films, Where the Wild Things Are, Amanda Visell, Adventure Time, and Tokidoki as major influences, the team behind the game aims for nostalgia with room for new ideas as gaming goes forward.

As of this writing, SleepNinja has raised $9,531 of their initial $15,000 goal, with 24 days left to go on a campaign that launched four days ago. It’s an impressive beginning, but if the world wants to play this game, it can’t stop there; fundraising levels beyond the initial goal promise a better soundtrack, more monsters, and further polish.

You can find more info about the game on this here campaign, and more about SleepNinja on its website.

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