Pokemon and Balatro-inspired roguelike with an unexpected horror twist doubled its Kickstarter goal in 20 minutes and is now 570% funded

As hype around Pokemon Winds and Waves grew to a fever pitch this week, one indie monster-taming roguelike absolutely smashed through its Kickstarter funding goal several times over.

Wonderful Neoran Valley pulls familiar features from other games and combines it into one creature-collecting roguelike with a really unexpected horror twist, at least in its latest trailer embedded below. Developer Nara Studios says the "project was born from our love for the greatest and most impactful monster collectors and JRPGs, like Pokémon and Shin Megami Tensei, along with the roguelites that influenced us the most, such as Slay the Spire, Balatro, and Inscryption."

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The equally wonderful pitch for Wonderful Neoran Valley meant its Kickstarter campaign was an instant success, reaching fully-funded status within 10 minutes and doubling its first funding goal in just 20 minutes.

At the time of writing, almost 8,000 people have contributed well over $570,000 to the game's campaign - its initial funding goal was only $100,000, and the Kickstarter page is still taking pledges for the next 28 days. Needless to say, it's a monster success on the platform.

With so many stretch goals already being passed, Wonderful Neoran Valley is now getting a Switch 2 port, a hard mode, a randomizer mode, and extra questlines and Neorans (collectible monsters) that wouldn't have been in the game otherwise. Should the Kickstarter receive at least one million dollars, Nara Studios promises to add voiceover, too.

The page also promises over 70 creatures at launch, alongside a clairvoyant protagonist who can predict an enemy's moves in battle.

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