FranknJohn is a roguelike smash ‘em up in a fun-house full of B-Movie horrors. Coming to Steam for PC, MAC & Linux
A failed experiment, rejected and alone, FranknJohn has little memory about what has happened, he only knows that his head can only stay on his body through an attached chain. But what was once his flaw becomes his strength as he battles the creatures that roam the haunted mansion.
Some key features in FranknJohn:
- Fling FranknJohn’s chained head around with full 360° control
- Experiment with dozens of Skullcaps that alter gameplay in many different ways
- Randomly generated, sprawling levels packed with items, collectables and secrets – no two play throughs are the same!
- Swappable body parts allow you customize your stats to your own play style
- Original Soundtrack by Ben Prunty
- Battle through four uniquely themed levels and piece together the dark history of its occupants
- Perma-death, challenging enemies and powerful bosses will keep you on your toes.
The graphics are quite Tim Burton/Coraline meets cute ParaNorman with BitSmiths Games explaining their influences being SNES classics such as Zombies Ate My Neighbours and, more recently Dark Souls.
The gameplay is fast paced and punchy. You take control of FranknJohn as he encounters some fearsome enemies. The game relies on strategy as you quickly learn your surroundings and how enemies attach and over come those challenges.
The best bit is the loot you can get in the game. These include skull caps, which you can swap on the little guys head, some help, some hinder, and some… a little weird. And it really wouldn’t be fun without the odd replacing of limbs. Hands, shoulders, chest, legs and feet can be swapped and used like armour pieces allowing you to customise your own play style.
The mansion is broken up into four distinctly themed levels or floors. Each floor is based on an emotion and has its own decor, enemies and traps. The Mansion is a treacherous place, filled with danger, mystery and chaos. Along your adventure, you will unlock the deep dark secrets that lurk in the mansion and gain insight into Dr. Harmin’s lost mind.
The Garden of Denial
is a garden cemetery full of semi-sentient spiky plant life and the buried and discarded remnants of failed experiments, left to slowly rot away. The Furnace of Anger is a shiny clockwork and cog driven world of blistering lava and jabbering mechanical denizens that provide power to the mansion. The Cistern of Depression is a sprawl of ancient, frozen ruins where Dr Harmin stores the not-entirely-dead parts he uses in his research. Finally, the Ward of Isolation is a clean, sterile network of cold corridors and labs, where Dr. Harmin does his work, guarded by his latest creations.
Each floor’s monsters, decorations and props reflect the theme; spiky, clockwork-driven, sore-ridden monsters crazed with anger in the Furnace, bony, skeletal remnants pulsing with half rotted organs refusing to accept death in the Garden. The floors are connected by a small hub hidden in FranknJohn’s grave. A place where he can catch his breath, hang out with friends and prepare himself for his next attempt at conquering the Mansion.
The denizens of the mansion are horrifying creations from the evil mind of Dr. Harmin. They are cobbled together from plant, animal and human parts to form the most unpleasant of sights. Each of them acts differently and FranknJohn must learn more about these sad beings in order to defeat them.
They are a fantastic group and deserve as much help as they can. The rewards that they offer are pretty awesome as well, including a steam key for FranknJohn with early access, access to the Design Team section, access to the soundtrack, stickers, badges, t-shirts and much more. The more the ante the more the loot, donate €490 you work with the team to create a unique in-game enemy or €610 to shrink yourself into a random character in the game !
There is so much more that BitSmith Games have to offer with this wonderful game so check them out and donate here:!
