It has been a busy week for Stathis Aposporis, the indie dev behind studio ProtoGames and the game, Spaceborn: Awakening. It’s a bullet heaven, but it caught my attention because of how the narrative has been put at the heart of the meta-progression.
“This is my first game as a solo dev, and honestly the whole bet is pretty simple,” solo dev Stathis Aposporis writes. “I’ve spent my career watching narrative get bolted onto genres where it doesn’t quite fit, so with Spaceborn I built the game the other way around.
“Becoming the first Spaceborn is the progression,” the ProtoGames developer continued. “The story and the roguelite loop aren’t two separate things, they’re one and the same.”
That’s an interesting hook, I think, especially in a genre where narrative nearly always takes a back seat to gameplay.
If you want to see it in action for yourself, the demo version of Spaceborn: Awakening is currently available on Steam PC (Lin, Mac, Win), and it has just been updated.
Even if you’re already familiar with the game, it’s worth a look as the demo has been given added depth to support new playstyles, as well as quality-of-life upgrades and one or two teasers for the future.
We’re being teased because Spaceborn: Awakening is heading to PC this November, which isn’t very far off at all. Now, check out the new gameplay trailer if you’d like to see the new bullet heaven in action.
