BumbleBear Games Announces Abs Vs. The Blood Queen Via Kickstarter

Fan-favorite independent arcade game developer BumbleBear Games has announced their latest project: Abs Vs. The Blood Queen, a 2D single-player side-scrolling adventure set in the Killer Queen universe.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic—which has forced most arcades across the country to shut their doors—BumbleBear has “temporarily shifted focus” to developing a Killer Queen game that community members can play at home while constricted by social distancing guidelines.

Whereas most BumbleBear titles would require “months or years” of development, Abs Vs. The Blood Queen will be purportedly be produced in “weeks.” This rapid creation cycle is made possible because “[Abs] is built on top of Killer Queen,” with the Kickstarter campaign funding the project.

Building upon Killer Queen’s “gameplay, codebase, physics, audio, and art,” Abs Vs. The Blood Queen will task players with:

• “Running like [expletive] from the terrifying wall of death”;

• Powering up protagonist Abs;

• Riding the snail and scorpion;

• Avoiding traps and solving puzzles;

• Collecting berries and “bugz”;

• Exploring procedurally-generated levels;

• Unlocking new characters and content;

• And competing for the high score in daily challenges.

Kickstarter backer bonuses from various tiers include in-game graffiti, “The Fall of Abs” poster, an arcade marquee, an 11.5-inch fight stick, and an Abs arcade cabinet.

Stretch goals include Abs’ inclusion in Killer Queen Black’s Season 1 expansion, Nintendo Switch support, and additional, yet unannounced content if the campaign surpasses $55,000 in backing.

All in all, BumbleBear is creating Abs Vs. The Blood Queen with two primary objectives in mind: to keep the studio alive and to give something back to the community.

Seeing as how, as of this writing, the Kickstarter campaign has surpassed its $33,000 goal, BumbleBear may very well be able to kill those two aformentioned birds with this one tantalizing stone.

Pending necessary funding, Abs Vs. The Blood Queen is planned to release on PC, Mac, and Linux in June 2020, with a Nintendo Switch version coming in fall of 2020 and an arcade version coming in June 2021.

As always, I’ll be here to share any further news that comes to light. Until then, y’all have a good week—and join my Discord server.