Yellow Emperor Games has released the reveal trailer for Galaxy Pilgrim, an atmospheric pixel art sci-fi platformer with a remote, globally distributed team that includes several Nigerian developers contributing to its art, design, and voice work.
Galaxy Pilgrim is a physics-based platformer built around pinball-like momentum mechanics, where players are never able to simply stand still movement itself becomes the core challenge the game is built around. The studio which was founded by Ukrainian Eugene Kleiner, describes it as a passion-driven project, one that has been in development for three years under its current form, with work on this version of the game beginning in May 2023. The team behind it is scattered across every continent, brought together as a network of freelancers and contractors working under the direction of the game’s creator.
Among that international team, three Nigeria-based developers have taken on significant roles in shaping the game’s world. Concept artist Oladayo Lasekan has been responsible for designing the game’s spaceships and is currently working on characters and bosses across several of the game’s planets. Level designer Ndunaka Noble has helped keep the game’s pacing and design fresh, contributing ideas aimed at sustaining variety across Galaxy Pilgrim’s worlds. And voice actor Kelvin Oguguo lends his voice to T369, a “cool uncle” type character who offers the protagonist guidance and tough love over the course of the mission.
According to the studio, Galaxy Pilgrim is actually the third attempt at realising this particular vision, with two earlier efforts teaching hard lessons about scope and the necessity of building a proper team rather than going it alone. Those lessons appear to have shaped the current approach, with the studio describing a gradual, trial-and-error process of finding ways to keep the game varied and fun without falling into the overcomplication that often weighs down science fiction and space exploration titles.
The studio plans to release a free playable demo by the end of the summer, alongside a new trailer that will showcase additional worlds and more of the game’s chaotic, momentum-driven gameplay.
Leave a Reply