The devs at Honey Tribe Studios have been positively buzzing lately! They stopped in today to let us know their intriguing Action/Adventure project Ashley Ao has joined the crowdfunding wave, with an IndieGoGo campaign set to run through July 19. A game this ambitious being quite the long haul for a two-man team, they’re looking to secure a final burst of programming assistance and get the marketing engine running.
We love it when this happens because crowdfunding campaigns are – if they’re well devised – packed with tons of new info and behind-the-scenes access to a studio’s development process. Ashley Ao is no exception, with developers Shaz Yousaf and Ryan Jackson giving it the full documentary treatment as you can see in the video gallery below. If you’ve been following the project as avidly as we have, check it out for even more background. And if you’re unfamiliar with this work in progress, who better than the devs to explain? From the Honey Tribe press release:
“Ashley Ao is an anime inspired action adventure game coming to iOS, Android and Mac. The developers Honey Tribe Studios and Ryan Jackson have now launched the game on crowd funding platform IndieGoGo.
Crowd funding is a relatively new way for independent studios to secure funding for their projects. Instead of pitching to publishers, they ask people directly to pledge small amounts of money in return for rewards such as collector editions of the game or printed artwork.
In their presentation video, the independent developers explain what the game is about and the creative process behind it. They talk about the anime inspiration and how the 16 bit era of gaming has helped to shape the game design.
The reward scheme has the things you’d expect — the game itself, the soundtrack and a signed poster featuring artwork of the central character. Interestingly, the higher reward tiers also include an option to be involved in the design process itself. With a limit of five people, backers will be able to co-create specific aspects of the game such as environments, special moves and bosses.”
Don’t forget to check out our in-depth interview with Shaz and Ryan from back in October, as well as the Honey Tribe Facebook page and Twitter account for the latest news. Here’s the IndieGoGo campaign documentary followed by juicy development footage: