SumoBoy - Kickstarter campaign for Anti-Bullying themed game

Australian dev team TAPRR are looking to raise funds on kickstarter for an exciting project which not only looks totally awesome on it's own merit, but also has a fundamental Anti-Bullying message. 

Whilst in development since 2013, the goal to attract AAA talent has paid off and has evolved from a 2D sidescroller into something much more deep and immersive.

"Inspired by the emotions associated with bullying and the anti-bullying movement, SumoBoy encourages you to find your voice and to stand up for yourself and others."

"SumoBoy is a classic 2D adventure game for PC, Mac and mobile, focused on delivering a thoughtful story, colourful characters, a unique art style and an unlikely hero."

"Experience faced-paced, challenging combat in  a beautifully stylized journey of discovery! We have crafted this action-oriented gameplay to be reminiscent of a few of our own favourite games, like Bastion, Diablo III, and the old Legend of Zelda."

Developer Henry Walsh Commented on Kotaku :  "As the lead designer on SumoBoy I was bullied personally as a child. We took a lot of personal stories into account when making the game. The game deals with bullying in a more metaphoric and symbolic way and we do delve into things like, "Why bullies bully." and ways to stop yourself from continuing a vicious cycle."

The team has been drawn from a multitude of AAA sources, spanning the production, design, code, music and artwork aspects and with a collective portfolio including:
Games: Call of Duty, Halo: CE Anniversary, Battle: LA and Fallout: Lonestar. 
Movies: Happy Feet 2, The Lego Movie, 300 
Music: Jeff Broadbent and Sandro Friedrich

At any rate this looks to be a very promising and gorgeous title with a technical powerhouse behind it and a message that will likely resonate with a lot of readers of this website, this writer included.

Just remember what Wil Wheaton said: "it absolutely gets better as you get older."

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Sumoboy Game website

-Alistair Brugsch