Content Warnings

Fantasy violence. (we rate it as PG13)

Project Introduction

STORY:

Entropy has escaped its prison and threatens to engulf the world. Step into the shoes of Marko, a young warrior who uncovers a secret power hidden within. Brave the ancient evils, battle mythical creatures and forge powerful alliances to restore the balance. With elemental powers at your command and every decision shaping the world's fate, embark on a thrilling adventure where courage is your greatest weapon.


GAMEPLAY:

Explore. Forge your own path through a vast interconnected world full of mythical creatures and legendary heroes. Map uncharted paths and explore the hidden depths of Zagora.

Fight. Dodge, dash, slash and shoot as you battle fierce-looking foes. Challenge your skills and reflexes through tight melee combat and epic boss fights.

Discover. Evolve with powerful items and abilities, allowing you to reach previously inaccessible areas. Meet a variety of quirky creatures, both friend and foe, and discover the dark secrets of the world around you.


FEATURES:

Traditional 2D art: The land of Zagora is brought to life in great detail, drawn and animated entirely by hand.

Challenging, but fair gameplay: Tight, responsive controls. Jump, fight and dash your way across challenges. Battle mighty foes and slay ancient evils.

Explore the vast land of Zagora: a huge non-linear map with hundreds of rooms. Solve puzzles and find hidden treasures, all within the Slavic-inspired fairytale setting.

Encounter mysterious characters: A cast of cute and creepy friends and foes, all brought to life with traditional 2D frame-by-frame animation.

Master New Abilities: Discover new skills, allowing you to go toe to toe with the most brutal of enemies.

Discover all secrets: Delve deep into the world and discover hidden areas and unspeakable treasures. Collect all the pieces and puzzle together an ancient mystery.

About Developer

Hello Indiecup team!

My name is Boyan 'Bobby' Vasilev and I am the main force behind Studio Mechka. Originally from Varna, Bulgaria, I graduated law in London, UK in 2012. I become disillusioned with my education and I turned to story telling and programming as hobies. Finally, my self-thought programming skills became at a level where I was able to work as a freelancer until 2016 when I formed Studio Mechka in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is essentially a three person studio where we collaborate with other professionals from the industry. My two colleagues are Boyan Yordanov, ( yes we have the same first name :D) Mihail Velikov. Boyan who is an artist with over 10 years of experience in illustrating children books, and video games. Mihail on the other hand is a childhood friend who is an exceptionally gifted illustrator.

In 2020 we felt we had enough confidence to start working on our own IP and in 2021 we announced Marko: Beyond Brave with a successful Kickstarter campaign where we raised 140% of the asked funds. in 2022 moved on to full time development of the game and also became part of the Digital Dragons Accelerator as one of 6 other studios from a selection process of over 400 other projects. We are currently polishing the game and are have plans to release it in Early September, but the date is not announced yet.

We as a team are in love with games as a storytelling medium. It's the perfect way of telling someone across the globe something dear and special to you in a way that will put them in the shoes of the storyteller and make them experience the story first hand. I'd say games are situated between books and movies in that regard. This is one of the reasons we are telling a Slavic / south east European/Balkan inspired story. The game is a journey through, not only Bulgarian but Balkan folklore and fairytales in a way that is easily understandable and not prohibitive to the unfamiliar player.

Hope to hear from you soon!