Image the scene: Two atypical persons are caught in site visitors. They’re drained, offended, and in determined must vent their frustrations. As a substitute of resorting to impolite hand gestures, they arm themselves with pillows and duke it out on the freeway till they return to their automobiles laughing. This sequence of occasions is patently absurd. It’s additionally the central premise of Pillow Champ, the following genre-bending combating recreation from Frosty Pop. Forward of its launch, PCGamesN caught a preview of Pillow Champ and spoke to CEO Faisal Sethi and narrative designer Xalavier Nelson Jr. to wrap our heads across the not-so-deadly artwork of pillow fight.
“Most of society’s ills – household, conflict, starvation, poverty – have largely been eradicated by the invention of the Pillow Champ league,” Xalavier explains. This explicit model of world logic will likely be acquainted to anybody versed in Xalavier’s personal improvement label, Unusual Scaffold. The notion of fixing world peace with pillow-fighting is ridiculous, nevertheless it’s additionally honest sufficient which you can’t assist however purchase into it – simply as you’ll be able to’t assist however purchase into the emotional interiority of inventory images of canines in An Airport for Aliens Presently Run By Canines.
The earnest silliness of Pillow Champ’s premise additionally imbues it with an approachability that invitations an viewers that might in any other case be too intimidated to have interaction with titanic, long-established combating video games like Road Fighter. Its easy, feather-stuffed twist additionally permits loads of alternatives to riff on memorable combating recreation moments that followers of the style will recall fondly, similar to Road Fighter’s car-smashing minigame – besides this time round, attacking a automobile with a pillow solely ends in sprucing it up. In Pillow Champ, destruction turns into restoration.
In fact, this overt pacifism is by design. Faisal credit his younger daughter as a giant motivation behind Pillow Champ’s improvement, permitting him to introduce her to the video games he cherished rising up (similar to Karate Champ and Kung-Fu Grasp) in a barely extra child-friendly vogue. Nonetheless, Pillow Champ’s family-friendly method doesn’t relegate it to 1 explicit age bracket. “It’s a combating recreation that may be performed by households however not essentially a combating recreation for households,” Xalavier clarifies.
Faisal likens Pillow Champ’s management system to Smash Bros, and the workforce has consulted skilled combating recreation gamers to assist imbue Pillow Champ with the depth essential to attraction to the style’s core viewers. It additionally encourages gamers to depend on ways over invincibility frames. “The fashion of fight is far much less combo-heavy; it’s not trying to stun-lock your opponent,” Xalavier explains, which in all probability comes as a aid to anybody who’s been juggled to loss of life in Mortal Kombat.
Whereas Faisal considers the esports scene a secondary or tertiary viewers, Frosty Pop has endeavored to outfit Pillow Champ with the whole lot required to succeed in these aggressive heights. On-line multiplayer and skill-based matchmaking are a given, however rollback netcode is a really welcome shock from an indie studio – a characteristic that behemoth Bandai Namco is simply simply starting to implement in Dragonball FighterZ.
Naturally, Pillow Champ’s fight is accompanied by a soundtrack that’s characterised by a pulsing beat and a playful synth that echoes the music of its 16-bit progenitors. It’s additionally impressed by the soundtracks for David Fincher’s The Social Community, in addition to Evening College Studio’s Oxenfree, lending it a pointy trendy high quality that makes for simple listening. Faisal additionally factors to Sayonara Wild Hearts as inspiration for Pillow Champ’s daring use of colour and shapes. These far-flung influences throughout a number of genres and mediums converse to Pillow Champ’s playful effervescence.
When it comes to narrative design, Xalavier cites Mortal Kombat 11 and Injustice 2 as notable video games that discover “very huge, lore-driven worlds with deeply human tales” which helped dismantle his personal prejudices towards combating recreation narratives. To that finish, two story modes will likely be accessible at launch, with extra to comply with. These preliminary tales present contrasting views inside Pillow Champ’s world, charting the lives of above-board Pillow Champ League founder Marcus Duckworth and Akiko Tanaka, an completed member of an underground pillow-fighting subculture.
“I wouldn’t say that we deconstruct the tropes of combating recreation storytelling,” Xalavier assures, “however we deal with it with a humanity and dignity that finally ends up elevating your entire expertise: actual folks, actual feelings, actual pillow-fighting.” Each Faisal and Xalavier impart the semi-autobiographical sides of those storylines, and they’re strikingly poignant – from Xalavier’s first foray into mosh pits to Faisal’s recollections of a childhood pal who handed away. “I didn’t need to make a parody of a combating recreation,” Faisal says. “I wished to make one thing honest.”
Pillow Champ’s characters themselves are grounded in actuality; from a nurse to a CEO to a librarian, the preliminary roster is comprised of eight atypical folks with atypical issues, motivations, and feelings. It’s additionally strikingly various, fostering an inclusivity that encourages nearly anybody to see themselves represented in Pillow Champ’s world. Whereas the very idea of pillow-fighting is inherently cross-cultural, Pillow Champ fighters categorical their tradition by way of their actions, whether or not it’s Muay Thai, conventional dances, or yoga.
Equally, Pillow Champ avoids tokenism by adopting a holistic method to character expression. “When you’re depicting a world that features numerous illustration, there generally is a giant strain to have that illustration voiced very overtly,” Xalavier explains. As a substitute, Pillow Champ eschews this reflex in favor of characters that prioritize what’s related to their lives, and their gender, race, and sexuality are solely explored when it is smart to take action. These characters exist as people, slightly than representational ideas, and Xalavier cites “the facility of a workforce that’s led by various folks” that makes this potential.
It’s no secret that combating recreation improvement sometimes comes with a hefty value that may quickly value out indies; fellow indie studio Lab Zero Video games has resorted to crowdfunding the tons of of 1000’s of {dollars} essential to create further characters in Skullgirls. Frosty Pop reconciles that exorbitant value on an indie funds with a lean improvement workforce, a clearly outlined scope, and long-term partnerships. Whereas the likes of pillowcase skins are nonetheless a twinkle in Faisal’s eye, the promise of extra characters and tales assures me that Frosty Pop’s feather-down utopia is trying fluffy and vibrant.
Pillow Champ is coming to PC on Steam, in addition to Netflix Video games and Nintendo Swap in Spring 2024. Within the meantime, check out our high picks for the finest indie video games, together with extra upcoming PC video games to look ahead to within the coming months.
