Do you like platformers with sci-fi elements? If yes, Transmogrify is your game.
Transmogrify is a sci-fi platformer where you turn enemies into objects and use them to solve puzzles.
You are lost in the facility you work at when the power restarts and strange creatures break loose. Grab the unconventional weapon, team up with the artificial intelligence that runs the facility, Grace, and figure out how to escape!
Developed with the open-source Godot Engine. We’ve enjoyed seeing Godot grow and being a part of the super friendly community.
Transmogrify burst to life from a game jam. The theme was “unconventional weapon”, which was a fun challenge. Instead of just shooting everything in your path and running forward, we created a different experience and realized there was a fun game to be made there.
The last piece of the puzzle fell into place when someone tweeted to try creating a weapon that doesn’t kill anything. This idea just sounded awesome so we ran with it. The end result was a game where you had a gun, but it turned enemies into objects to solve puzzles with- blocks, springs, floating platforms, shields, and more.
Andrew teamed up with Nick in late 2017. Nick did all the music, sound effects, and menus. Tim joined the team in early 2018, nuked the programmer-art from orbit, and we started over with his vision. Everything went through a transmogrification (eyeroll) of its own in the last few months with sound, art, and gameplay all unifying into something we love.
The name of the game was inspired by Calvin and Hobbes, and Calvin’s “transmogrifier” cardboard box that changed him into different creatures.
Says the developers.
Gameplay
Transmogrify’s gameplay is a blend of solving puzzles, platforming action, and exploring an immersive facility. Each enemy turns into a different object with their own purposes. You may need a block to hold down a button to open a door or reach a small ledge. In another case, you might want to find an enemy to turn into a one-way platform to traverse a big horizontal gap. A different puzzle will require you find a spring in order to bounce your way up to a high vertical area.
We also added teleporters, buttons, switches, doors, moving platforms, lasers, jump lifts, and the kitchen sink to the mix. They all interact to create combinations that build on each other which keep the gameplay fresh and complex. We reward creativity and give the player multiple ways to solve puzzles. We also created bite-sized levels and there is a scoreboard at the end with stats to track how you did to create a fun, short, gameplay loop. You can replay the levels you want to beat your high score or explore and collect hidden items.
Transmogrify will appeal to gamers that like platformers, puzzles, some story-telling, and elements of sci-fi and horror.
Features
- Escape the facility by navigating through several totally different worlds each with their own enemies, puzzles, and hazards.
- Over a dozen carefully crafted enemies that each have their own personality, goals, and corresponding objects at your disposal.
- We currently have over 60 levels designed and sketched out, with more to come.
- Challenging puzzles that build on themselves as the game progresses and feel rewarding when you beat them because you teach yourself.
Art
Transmogrify’s art style is “the perfect blend of cute and creepy” to paraphrase much of the feedback we’ve gotten. While jamming on the game, we often discuss games like Mario, Portal, and Mega Man X, as well as films such as Resident Evil, Alien, and Jurassic Park. You can feel the inspiration from these works of art we love, while still getting an original and fun style.
We took a collaborative approach for this game and everyone came up with lots of good ideas that made it better. Andrew’s vision for the game merged with Tim’s art direction and Nick’s music to create the colorful but moody style that walks a tightrope between adorable and nightmarish.
We strongly recommend check out their Kickstarter journey and share some love.
