"That boy probably thinks there's no vampire base on the moon either. The job is simple. See something. Stab something!"-Kristofferson the Janitor, relaying Becky her vampire-hunting mission, #Blud
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Presents...
IndiePendence
Hello, young and young at heart explorers, and welcome to Indiependence, where we here at Something Niche dive into the growing pantheon of indie video games taking over the market! These are the smaller titles made by passionate burgeoning developers without corporate interference in order to provide charming and engaging experiences that stand out from the AAA gaming crowd!
Today, as Halloween inches closer, we will be taking a stab at #Blud, a dungeon crawler taking influence from the 2D installments of The Legend of Zelda with a unique aesthetic twist; the art style takes inspiration from the classic after-school cartoons of Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon that raised the kids of the late 90s and early-to-mid 2000s, like yours truly!
In this game, you take control of a young highschooler named Becky Brewster (pictured above, to the center) as her sleepy hometown of Carpentersville gets invaded by supernatural forces led by the vampire lord Dragur, armed only with her trusty field hockey stick, a few sharp pencils, and the teachings of her local high school janitor Kristofferson (pictured above to the left).
So, make sure you've got some garlic and crosses handy, as we sink our fangs into the quirky world of #Blud!
#Bludy Beginnings
Before we dive into the meat and potatoes of this nostalgic dungeon crawler, however, perhaps I should tell you about its strange backstory.
#Blud is the brainchild of Exit 73 Studios, a small 5-man team based in Riverhead, a small town based in Long Island, New York. Befitting its artistic inspirations, the studio originally conceived it as a pitch for an animated TV series, likely for Netflix or adult animated cable blocks like Cartoon Network's own Adult Swim.
The series was meant to be a callback to the likes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and would have focused on Becky Brewster-originally known as Becky Belmont-as she hunted supernatural creatures while balancing life as a high schooler. An animation test with full voice acting was put together and can be found on the studio's official website as well as YouTube.
Sadly, nobody was interested, and the studio eventually moved on to work on commercials for brands such as General Mills Cereal, Sprint, Jack Link's Beef Jerky, and bumpers for the Nick Jr. mobile app. They have also done work on animated segments for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and The Angry Video Game Nerd, as well managing to work with Cartoon Network via cutscenes for a video game based on their show O.K. KO.
It would seem that the latter inspired them to start work on their own video game, and they decided to take the plot of their unsuccessful pitch and recycle it for said game. After a few minor adjustments, they first announced the game project in 2019 and spent the next five years polishing things up and making a few minor adjustments to the character designs and animations-all of which were done in the now mostly obsolete Macromedia Flash! #Blud eventually made its grand debut in mid-2024, available for purchase on Steam and all modern consoles.
When speaking about the last stages of development, head of project Chris Burns reflected "We really pressed the gas down on #Blud and turned down a lot of work. We really wanted to make this game the way we wanted to make it, and how we wanted to make it look. And when I have a PlayStation control in my hand or bring the Switch home and watch my son play my animation...that's a feeling I can't remember having since early in my animation career."
Stranglin' The Breeze
Ok, now we know exactly how #Blud came to be, but what exactly is it? Well, #Blud takes the form of a 2D dungeon crawler inspired the greats like The Legend of Zelda. You take control of Becky Brewster through several different chapters that are arranged similar to different episodes of a cartoon series, befitting its artistic inspiration.
Much like its contemporaries, you come armed with several different weapons, with your primary being a trusty field hockey stick that is affectionately dubbed "Brenda" by Becky in-universe. The main overworld of the game is the small town of Carpentersville, named after Michael Myers creator John Carpenter in the first of many references to late-20th century horror classics woven into the game's design.
Throughout the course of the game, you will journey through several different locales in Carpentersville as you prepare for your final battle against Dragur. These include locations such as Becky's Place of instruction of Carpentersville High, the surprisingly thriving Carpentersville Mall, the eerie Loomis Memorial Hospital and the main offices of fictional social media company (and secondary game antagonist) Perch. You will even unlock a fast-travel system later in the game that will allow you to take a quick shortcut to wherever.
Each of these locales are filled with multiple grotesque, yet appropriately cartoonish supernatural beasts to battle, including giant flies and bats, mutated rats, the occasional Perch security drone, and as suggested by the game's name, multiple different quirky twists on the vampire. Some of my personal favorites of the latter include the fire-spewing Soucovayant, the Bela Lugosi-inspired Elder Vampire, and the large-framed bouncing Gluttonous Vampire.
Every level is usually capped off with a boss fight against a super-powered cartoon beast. In addition to final boss Dragur, these brief, but memorable encounters include a shapeshifting goat, a Punch-Out inspired boxing match against Perch's Steve Jobs-inspired founder Geoff Freya, a bus chase against a vampiric school bus driver, and several recurring encounters with Dragur's lieutenants Max and Fritz.
As with any great dungeon crawler, you will also gain new abilities and sub-weapons as your journey continues. These include a set of pencils that are throw from a distance to stake enemies (and are the only way to defeat one particular enemy), red bombs that can kill most enemies in a single blow or destroy cracked walls in order to reveal secrets, and a hook-shot that'll enable you to traverse across large gaps. You will also unlock a dodge roll that'll get you out of a pinch, and infinite supply energy bars and soda cans will replenish your health.
It's Dangerous to go Alone!
Outside of the main adventure, there will also be several side collectibles for you to find across the sleepy town of Carpentersville. Much like it's main gameplay influence The Legend of Zelda, several; heart-shaped puzzle pieces will often be hidden in hard-to-reach places. Collecting a certain number of these will increase your health meter (Which, trust me, you're going to need! This game gets cheap at several points!)
Furthermore, several token will be hidden throughout Carpentersville. These don't really buff any stats, but they definitely provide a fun bragging rights reward! Each of them can be viewed on the pause menu once collected and come with their own funny blurb befitting the game's madcap tone. One of them even has the Jersey Devil on it!
While infrequent, several side quests will also be available to complete at multiple points. Usually, these come in the form of a collect-a-thon for a particular object and will grant you a nice dose of EXP or even a new collectible token upon completion.
Finally, as a quirky added bonus, several funny time wasters will be hidden throughout the game that provide no other purpose other than to provide a quick laugh! Becky's neighborhood features a dog NPC that'll trigger a cute little cutscene upon interaction. Several small minigames can be found at several points, most interestingly a fictional edutainment game where you solve simple math problems in order to score a basket (which is even used as part of a side quest)!
However, perhaps the most humorous mechanic of the game comes in the form of selfies, where a button press will enable you to choose from a set of hilarious poses (as depicted above) as an NPC or enemy (which won't even try to attack you!) watches in the background. These photos can be added to your bestiary when done with enemies and can be seen there at any time. As for the NPCs, these photos will be added to the Perch menu of your pause screen, where several humorous quips from the game's cast will appear in the background (It is also on this screen where you can check your progress on quests and look for hints on where to go next!).
Get Animated!
However, the perhaps the place where #Blud shines the brightest is in its highly detailed animation style! Giving that its development studio is mostly known for working on animated projects, it would seem a given that every character animation was designed by true professionals of the industry.
And this animation was quite a feat of strength in its own right, with thousands of frames of animation being crafted lovingly by only a few people. And they also did it on Macromedia Flash, a program that has been mostly left behind in the 2000s! Perhaps this is what allows this game to obtain its nostalgic art style that'll leave 2000s kids feeling warm inside.
Indeed, as you can see by what we have showcased above, #Blud takes inspiration from a place that I honestly cannot believe is starting to become a nostalgic commodity of the past; the best and brightest of Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon cable tv cartoons! Every character in the game, from the main characters to the enemies to the incidental background NPCs look just like they stepped out of an episode of Dexter's Laboratory or The Powerpuff Girls (one NPC is even a dead ringer for the Gangrene Gang's Billy), and the architecture brings to mind the worlds created by Rob Renzetti and Butch Hartman. Chapters of the game begin with detailed title card illustrations (an example of which we can see above), like episodes of our favorites. Even the sound effects that emit from the enemies and environment sound like they were ripped straight out of a Hannah-Barbara cartoon!
Several cartoonish animations will also detail a lot of the game's sprites in order to give the impression of an interactive episode of the cartoons we 2000s kids were raised by. Becky will become an ash-covered silhouette with eyes when hit with fire, enemies will see visible stars as they are stunned, and the Elder Vampires will disappear under a visible "RIP" gravestone as they are defeated. All of these meld together perfectly in order to give of the impression of the best game Cartoon Network never made by Cartoon Network!
However, that isn't the only place where #Blud takes its little details from. As explained above, the town of Carpentersville takes its name from cult film maestro John Carpenter, with many references to his body of work being included, included the aforementioned Loomis Memorial Hospital taking its name from Halloween's Dr. Sam Loomis. Several other characters also take inspiration from elsewhere in the genre. Becky's mentor Kristofferson is named after the sadly now late great movie star Kris Kristofferson and is a dead ringer for his Whistler character from New Line Cinema's Blade films. And Becky herself takes her surname from the protagonist of the 80s vampire cult classic Fright Night (a personal favorite of mine you might be hearing more about later in the month!) The game's soundtrack even oozes with the sounds of 80s-style synthesizers that match the game's nostalgic Halloween vibe. There are also several other surprise shout-outs that I'll let you discover for yourselves!
Saturday Morning Storytelling
Of course, none of the animation would matter if we didn't have memorable personality types attached to them! And this is definitely something that #Blud has managed to amass in spades!
Like many of the great recent indie protagonists, Becky Brewster manages to craft a memorable personality to match her uniquely artsy design. She depicts many of the same juvenile protagonist qualities of many of the cartoons that inspired her world's mise-en-scene, with plenty of cynical snapbacks and wholesome commentary making up the majority of her character dialogue. Several cutscenes also make way to a bevy of humorous situations that even inject a bit of edge to her personality!
Likewise, many of the supporting cast members bring their own quirks to the table. Kristofferson's grumpy old man demeanor and occasional Southern twanged remarks serve as an excellent counterpoint to Becky and complements her youthful-if occasionally snarky-worldview nicely. Becky's best friend Corey is a lovable nerd whose dedication to the pursuit of knowledge and can-do attitude makes him a surprise personal favorite of mine. Geoff Freya is a perfect love-to-hate villain-to the point of occasionally outshining his undead benefactors-with his mischievous design and dialogue and surprising amount of genuine menace. And every enemy type from major bosses to minor mooks manages to stand out, managing to switch seamlessly between goofy and genuinely menacing at the drop of a hat. Max and Fritz in particular have some surprisingly memorable moments and personality quirks that pop up in cutscenes (such as one scene where they play rock-paper-scissors to see who will fight Becky).
However, the glue that no doubt about it holds everything together is the game's story, however light it may be. Surprisingly, we see multiple characters go through genuine arcs as they grow to trust one another and remain brave in the face of danger. The game even manages to have several surprisingly-stakes raising plot twists (pun intended!), including a major character death that caught me off guard and actually left me emotionally attached. All of this manages to add a genuinely heartwarming element to what is otherwise a rather simple Zelda-clone.
A Couple of Scratches...
Granted, not everything about #Blud is absolutely flawless. Especially in terms of the gameplay.
While these flaws definitely aren't enough to completely derail the whole experience, they definitely make things apparent that there is certainly room for improvement. And some of these bugs have thankfully been squished with updates.
Most notably, up until one recent patch, a dodge roll mechanic was left without invincibility frames, which could lead to quite a few cheap deaths. This was especially noticeable during the boss battle against the demonic goat, as Becky could get stuck underneath the boss and be doomed to an unfair death. An element that ended up unfairly tarnishing what was otherwise a solid and memorable boss encounter.
Also, while the gameplay definitely brings the best of its 2D Zelda inspiration to the table, it does little to build upon it. Almost every gameplay beat done here has pretty much been done before in Zelda, with very little variety added. This could lead to a feeling of monotonous repetition to for the more daring folks.
Finally, one thing that I feel could have elevated the already-great storytelling even further was the presence of fully voice-acted dialogue. Aside from a few grunts and exclamations from Becky during gameplay, the only sounds we hear accompanying the game's snappy dialogue are cartoonish gibberish mumbles. While this was cute on its own, an option to give the characters actual voices could've elevated them even further, going from being quirky hidden gems to potential enduring indie game icons! Even better if cartoon veterans like Tom Kenny and Rob Paulson were involved in order to grant even more authenticity to its 2000s cable feel! All of these elements definitely make it clear that this game was a first-time experience from a company that normally works on short, animated commercials.
Same Blud Time, Same Blud Channel
In the end, while it's far from a flawless experience, #Blud is still a game that was crafted with love and passion, like all great indie hits.
While there is still room for improvement, the game manages to perfectly combine a warm nostalgic feeling for us Gen Z kids with a fun, simplistic gameplay experience that anyone can pick up and play, but few can truly master, derivative as it may be of other works.
Every frame of animation within this game, from gameplay sprites to cutscenes, manages to capture the charm of the cable age of cartoons like no other, and was impressively done with only a few men and a grand amount of respect for the era of animation.
It manages to have several fun scenarios and side gigs that are never boring, and several memorable characters to build its world, as well as a surprisingly well-executed storyline with near-cinematic level character development.
And above all else, its ultimately just a fun and unique experience that reminds me of how far gaming has truly progressed in the past few decades.
While Exit 73 has since mostly returned to animated commission work (most notably working on a recent trailer for the upcoming indie title Herobot), they have still shown signs that they would love to return to the town of Carpentersville, and have even released an added DLC chapter for the base game in the form of Claws for Alarm (a still of it is pictured above) where Becky takes care of a werewolf invasion while searching for a missing friend, which even ends with a sequel hook!
And I would certainly love to see more stories from this world, as Becky continues to fight more and more being of the supernatural realm. Perhaps she could fight zombies next, or maybe travel across the United States battle different cryptids. She could even eventually battle an alien invasion, or travel abroad to places like Japan, where she can do battle against anime-influenced Yokai and Oni! And of course, the sequel would certainly be a great opportunity to fix the flaws of the original!
Even if a true game sequel never materializes, we could also expand this game into other forms of media. Perhaps Exit 73 could finally produce a spinoff web series for Netflix, like what happened with Cuphead! Or maybe a comic book could be produced in the vein of the Invader Zim comics! Maybe we could even get a prequel focusing on the origins of Kristofferson, expanding on his history with the Brewster family and how he came to hunt monsters in the first place! The possibilities are truly endless!
For now, though, we have this quirky little gem to appreciate. If you want a fun dungeon crawler with a nostalgic Saturday Morning Cartoon feel, don't hesitate to sink your teeth into #Blud! It'll certainly leave you in stitches!
Dedicated to Kris Kristofferson
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