There are cutesy 2D indie platformers, and then there’s Slime-san. I’m ashamed to admit it passed me by when it first came out back in 2017, dismissing it as just another brutally difficult old school platformer, albeit one with a style of its own. Picking it up a couple of years later, I realised I couldn’t have been further from the truth: yes, Slime-san is another challenging 2D platformer, but it’s got a character, humour and execution that’s simply impeccable and is all of its own.
Which is why I was intrigued by Slime-san developer Fabraz’ follow-up, which goes somewhere surprising yet also familiar – here’s the same tripped-out wit and charm, only this time it’s a fully 3D platformer, all of which seems like quite the leap for the small New York studio.
Demon TurfPublisher: Playtonic FriendsDeveloper: FabrazAvailability: Out later this year on PC, PS4 and Switch
At the heart of Fabraz is Fabian Rastorfer, a developer who, you can tell after half an hour’s chat, brings a whole lot of heart to his video games. Having been drawn to games as a young kid during the GameCube era, he soon combined his love of the medium with his passion for drawing comics and writing, making his first formative forays with RPG Maker. “It was kind of funny, because I think when I was around 18 I told my parents ‘Okay, I think I’ve made a very important decision – I think I want to get into video game development.’ And I remember distinctly but my parents looking at me like, ‘No shit.'”
Rastorfer went to Parsons School of Design in New York, where he teamed up with his mentor to make an iOS game, and by the time he’d graduated he’d gathered enough connections to be able to start his own company. Slime-san helped put them on the map, and if you’ve played it you’ll be familiar with a certain feel that feels unique to Fabraz’ output, and that’s evident throughout Demon Turf.
Demon Turf – Playtonic Friends Watch on YouTube
“I think any creator puts their flair into their creations – and sometimes they don’t exactly know what that flair is, per se,” says Rastorfer as he tries to pin down the Fabraz style. “There’s quirky humour to the worlds that we make, you know, colour and character and something that you just want to explore even if there’s not necessarily insane philosophical depth. There’s playfulness in it, and that’s what makes people want to explore them.”