About
- Descend is an RPG inspired by the classic console greats, featuring precarious dungeon excavations, a unique look at puzzle platforming, tons of secrets, lovable characters, and a thrilling story where your choices matter.
- Join Faye in her Descend through a massive and ruined mega-structure. Each level contains new rules that govern the dungeon and its inhabitants.
- Carefully prepare for dangerous expeditions--bring the wrong equipment and you'll have to make a quick escape!
- Descend is currently planned for release on PC, though we're planning for as many ports as we can. (Look for other platforms to possibly show up in our stretch goals!)
- A great game needs a great soundtrack, so we’re partnering with talented and acclaimed orchestral composers and sound designers to give you that essential experience.
- We've joined forces with the talented Donovan Seidle, the Assistant Concertmaster of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.
In Descend you play as Faye, who was born into one of the many nomadic clans. She has been living with her grandma and grandpa, Apa & Ama, for 9 years ever since her parents disappeared on an expedition into the ruins.
Despite being only 12 years old, Faye is the rightful leader of the clan. She can only lead, however, once she completes the Ruin Gylder’s Rite.
Until she completes the Rite, her loving grandparents take care of all the day-to-day dealings of the clan. A few family friends have stuck around, hoping that their clan will prosper once again.
- Faye is a gifted child, or so her grandparents think. She is able to control the Orison, the stone sentinels, that roam the ruined halls and speak to the ancient dead.
- With a small incantation, she can grow plants or make them wither, and she can absorb the raw magic from the powerful Harada bush.
- She approaches her powers as any child, with innocence, but the magic itself is dark and dangerous. She will need to be careful and control her power quickly, or else it could control her.
- Her grandparents give her a spellbook to control her power. Faye uses it for almost everything: journal entries, maps, spells, taking notes on expeditions, and pressing flowers. The spellbook acts as a conduit and protects her from most of the magic she uses while also limiting the power of her spells.
- Faye's spells can only get her so far. There are plenty of sheer drops, narrow corridors, and other dangers waiting for her in the ruins. There are always several ways to traverse room to room, just so long as she stays sharp and keeps her mind open. The ruins will put her skills to the test, best get prepared!
The province of Hemonnet is dangerous and wild. Ruins of an ancient civilization frequent the horizon, and much of the province is overgrown. The untamed wilds are host to numerous beasts, cutthroats, and man-eating plants.
Even the most daring outlaws avoid the ruins, for the folktales and ghost stories mentioned of them are terrifying indeed. Giant stone obelisks and death-defying guardians roam their halls, seeking the ignorant adventurer. To set foot in the ruins unprepared is to meet an untimely demise.
Bhadawisen: The Cursed Exiles
Cursed outcasts from the deserts from Khuuha, the Bhadawisen's raw strength and spell-casting prowess often make them leaders in the clans that roam Hemonnet. They are bands of archaeologists and adventurers seeking their fortune deep within the precarious ruins.
The Orison: Remnants of an Old Existence
The Orison were created as servants from ancient magic and still roam the ancient halls waiting for the command of their masters.
The Glithule call the smaller Orison Coroliths, and the larger variety Karoliths--Coro and Karo for short. They search tirelessly for a key to control the constructs.
Faye is able to use these stone creatures to traverse the ruins. Some can slip under cracks or be thrown long distances, while others can lift her up or make large platforms with their arms. Faye will have complete freedom in how she is to conquer the perilous dungeon in her Descend.
Faye's clan has set up at the edge of a giant ruined structure named Calder's Chasm, though its true name has been lost to the sands of time.
While all of Hemonnet’s ruins hold magical oddities and various dangers, Calder's Chasm is unique in its massive presence and seemingly endless depths. Machinery that is bewildering as well as imposing continues to hum upon the moss-ridden walls.
Only a few floors of the ruins have been uncovered during the clan's many excavations, and each one is unique in its own season, flora, and fauna. The floors seem to be disassociated from the rules of the continent above and often have their own otherworldly behaviours.
Nobody has seen the bottom floor, but many believe whatever is down there could be the key to several mysteries that bewilder the inhabitants of Hemonnet.
The clan discovered the first level in the middle of winter. Faye’s grandparents stumbled upon an oasis of verdant green on the peak of a mountain range, high above the clouds.
Their clan named the first floor Respite of the Bhadawisen after the long and exhausting journey to get there. Their clan took up camp at the edge, and while the seasons around the ruins changed, the floor remained in perpetual spring.
Too Hot to Handle
The camp grew curious about what else was left to discover below. They formed an expedition and set off into the lower floors. Below they uncovered vast oceans of sand, falling in endless streams from the ceiling miles up. The heat was unbearable, and they had to leave shortly after arriving. Faye has been told the clan has not been farther since.
Deeper Still...
Several pictograms on the ruined walls speak of other possible floors, an endless maze of mist and gnarled trees that shift and stir like a living creature.
The images on walls speak of a fort built atop a lake of ice, imprisoning a massive lupine creature.
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Twinspell Studio consists of five core members who have been close friends for a long time. We recently graduated together from the same game development course in Vancouver, BC, Canada. We'd also like to thank some of the people who have helped us along the way, one person in particular being Sage Hughes. She's been our marketer and social media expert for several months now, and without her we wouldn't have gotten the support and following we have today!
The inspiration behind Descend came from a singularly tragic session of D&D where one of our members died valiantly to a trio of hags in a windmill, but not before burning their coven to the ground. Heeding the saddened cries of a lost player, we energetically came up with Descend-- a love note to the classic console games of the ages. That love continues to this day; we have been working on it since!
All of us have an extensive background in digital arts. With our aligned interests and endless creativity, Twinspell Studio felt like a natural step towards a dream turned reality. Our close-knit group of passionate, up-and-coming game devs means fulfilling a lifelong yearning to create our dream game. We envision Descend as a game worthy of its fans: a thrilling puzzle RPG, with secrets and emotional junctures, all weaved into an impactful and rich story.
But we need your help to make that vision possible.
What you are funding here is the core experience for Descend, the foundation for a great RPG. Making this game has been our team's dream since long before we started development, and we believe to make Descend a unique and lovable game, our vision needs to be in our own hands. Our goal of independence can become a reality through Kickstarter. We hope that by reaching our fans and hitting our stretch goals, we can take the game even further.
We have the utmost faith that our team, plus support from our fans, can take us across the finish line and beyond. Delivering a great experience to our backers has always been the number one goal, and we will do whatever we must to make good on our promise and reward your support.
Everything Helps!
If you can’t support us financially, consider sharing our Kickstarter/social media accounts with your friends, family and fellow gamers. We truly appreciate every form of support!
Risks and challenges
Making games is an innovative career where nailing "fun" is subjective and not always easy. When building a game, change is a necessary thing. With that change, there will always come risk.
But how does one avoid these risks? By learning from our experiences. Twinspell Studio is a small indie game studio. Even though we learned a lot from the development of this project and our experiences before, we’re still learning from Descend.
While this may be our first game, the team understand when change is necessary and when it isn't. We’ve been through the work pipeline and we take this very seriously.
While no one can ever guarantee success in game development, the backing we’ve received and the dedication that we’ve put in makes us confident that with your support we can create an amazing game.
We appreciate your investment, and we'll make every effort to produce an experience that makes you happy and us proud.
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Funding period
- (27 days)