WHAT'S THE SET-UP?
The overarching story set-up appears to be intended as a prequel to Nightmare/Atmosfear with events in Carny Island setting in motion the events of the Video Board Game series. Carny Island sports Brett Clements' signature "messy" art style reminiscent of the cartoonishly macabre flash animations seen on Newgrounds in the early to mid-2000s (many in-progress animated videos are available to view at the Atmosfear Fan Club on Facebook).
The game takes place at the titular funfair attraction centred around a large building called "The Big House". Inside it is a haunted mansion style dark ride attraction called "GraveRobbers" hosted by the gleefully morbid "Uncle Shrift" the Shape Shrifter (not a typo).
HOW DO WE PLAY?
Carny Island can be played alone or with multiple friends. The "GraveRobbers" attraction is split into ten distinct floors with a Harbinger for each (from top floor to bottom floor):
- Zombie Apocalypse
- Poison Jungle
- Howling Forest
- The Crypt
- Crookwood Studio (Ground Floor)
- Arachnaland
- Helloween
- Lavaland
- Bloodbath
- Pirate Cove
Each floor houses a world with a Mario Party-esque board game arrangement on which new players or "Kindred" can rob from light-blue coloured graves to sell the body parts therein, create a zombie army and "throw it at the gates of hell" (No word yet on whether "Harbingers" from the Nightmare/Atmosfear series will be represented in this game). Interactions with Uncle Shrift will seemingly be viewed through Brett Clements' in-house video streaming solution "showcache" with ambitions for 3D-printable board elements to interact with the videos in real-time.
Once all ten worlds have been cleared, the player will become a "Carny" and gain access to all of Carny Island's art assets and source code with the ability to alter existing elements and add in their own as they please, much like built-in mod support for a PC game like Doom but at a far deeper level. This done, Carnies can then assume direct control over their creations in a management simulation sense as other "Kindreds" experience it for themselves, similar in a sense to the relation between dungeon master and adventurer in D&D.
WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
The game is still in developmental stages at time of writing with fan feedback providing much of the guidance for creative direction, so anything can happen (except for NFTs which Brett was thankfully talked out of before he committed). Publishers and development partners are being looked into with release platforms (consoles, PC etc) still up in the air at this time. A crowdfunding campaign is on the cards with rewards planned for supporters and all information debuting first at the Atmosfear Fan Club page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2230645354
I personally have no idea how this is all going to come together even after an apparent 6 years of development, as the ambition could very well outweigh the resources required. Whatever becomes of Carny Island, it will undoubtedly be a fascinating ride and whatever form it ends up releasing in, I'll be excited to see it nonetheless