I. Introduction

What you've got there is a one-way ticket. There's no coming back from this, you know.

Well, unless you buy another one way ticket back. Then, like, you're fine, but you probably should have just bought a two-way ticket. Could have probably saved a bit of money that way. It might also be awkward if you go up to the receptionist and tell them you're getting back on the train to go the other direction and they remembered you only had a one-way ticket. Then they'll be like, "Oh, this is someone that can't make up their mind. They could have saved money if they bought a two-way ticket" or something.

Whatever.

The point is that it's a one-way ticket. It's headed to a new world, one that's been taking shape slowly for some time. If you're here, you've probably got a lot of questions as to what any of this is. Maybe something along the lines of "What's this game about?" If you didn't know this was about a game, that question might instead be "What am I reading?"

A blog post, for starters. But this is just more than a blog post! It's a compilation of a couple years of musing, scribbling, coding, and wondering whether or not this was a game I could really make. I'm not a stranger to making games (check out my portfolio website), but the scope of this project was far, far greater than any other I had worked on. Even now, the road ahead isn't the clearest. But through all that brainstorming and questioning, I've found people to bounce ideas off of. Pitches, comments, critiques, and even enthusiasm about the prospect of this game. More than a dozen people have touched this project and told me, "This is rad as hell."

Not using that exact verbiage, obviously, but that's how it's felt.

It's been a long time coming, but I felt it was high time to stop just letting ideas and prototypes bounce around a web of acquaintances. I want to see this through, and I want to journal what's happening for others to see, too. Up ahead is a broad overview of the project and a summary of everything that's happened thus far. Check it all out section by section or skip to the parts that interest you most!

The game is far from completion or even a demo, but part of what I hope to do with establishing this blog is simple: just go for it. Shake that fear of creation and perfection by slowly chipping away at the game a step at a time. I also hope to reach people over time and get them as excited for this to be a real thing as I am. :-)

So, that ticket there, it's to a train cabin that's shaped like a pinball that's on a rail that's going to get launched by a spring that's going to immediately accelerate you to 200 miles per hour. I hope that's agreeable.

Well, without further ado, all aboard!

II. What is PINPIN: TILTEDTALE?

In the simplest terms, PINPIN: TILTEDTALE, or just PINPIN, is a pinball action RPG. At its core, players will navigate the world of PINPIN and participate in PinPin battles. If you've played any RPG ever, this should sound pretty standard to you. Pokemon? Earthbound? Final Fantasy? If you've played any of these, you've got it. Traverse a world, talk to characters, take on quests, run into enemies, go into buildings you're not supposed to, break pots, the whole shebang! The thing that makes PINPIN special, however, is that battles don't take place in your standard turn-based format.

Damage and healing? Hit a bumper. Using magic? Affecting your flippers. Swapping out party members? Swapping out who's manning the cabinet.

It's done though pinball!

Can you imagine / an rpg / but the battle mechanics are done via pinball / ur main attack is just pinballing
- My friend casually suggesting the best idea I'd ever heard, Jan 2022

In addition to the pinball action, you'll be able to collect and assemble special moves in the form of tokens. These tokens can do anything from healing a party member, activating multi-ball, changing gravity, creating obstacles on the playing field, and so much more! Some tokens may be more effective if used by certain party members or may not affect certain kinds of enemies at all. Collect these tokens from battling enemies, talking to NPCs, exploring hidden areas, and more to craft the perfect token set.

It's not just the battle mechanics that are pinball-inspired, though. The world of PINPIN revolves around pinball. From education to culture to religion and politics, the inhabitants of PINPIN live and breathe the game, all thanks to the god of the world, Pin. In an old folktale, it is said that Pin found the world in a state of disarray. Animals were locked into a state of war over land and food. Disgruntled by this—and mostly annoyed that the animals were not yet worshiping him—Pin sent down a deluge of silver balls in punishment. Some animals took shelter, but the bravest of animals grabbed sticks to swat back at the balls. As they did this, the animals began to accidentally hit other out with the balls, and accidents quickly turned into full back-and-forth matches. Even though the animals were still knocking each other out, Pin noticed how their anger was transforming into laughter. (You would think that this would maybe birth a world of tennis, but Pin wasn't too interested in having worshipers that played tennis.; it's still a sport in the world, just not as well respected). Amused by this, Pin blanketed the world in his magic, giving the animals the power to summon pinball boards and fight in PinPin battles.

And the rest is history! Or maybe it's just a story. In any case, everything is pinball here, and everyone is crazy about pinball here.

Well, everyone except for our protagonist, Pino, a grumpy bear with an intense hatred for pinball enrolling in Pin Academy. His childhood friend Julieta, a cheerful but tough-love-involved bunny, accompanies him as something unfolds at the Pin Academy orientation that forces him to travel across the land and participate in PinPin battles. Overshadowed by his father who stands as a competitive PinPin champion, Pino will be grappling with his relationship to pinball, himself, and the world as he makes new friends and foes alike.

III. Oscuroso? Blog?

Oscuroso—a combination of oscuro and oso—is the group of people trying to make all this happen! We're a small ragtag team of artists, designers, and programmers trying to make something cool between life and work. To be honest, the people of Oscuroso are close friends that are contributing to PINPIN and supporting me just because they want to. Even this blog wouldn't exist without the help of them, so I'm beyond grateful for all they're giving. :D We'll make sure to have a tab in the near future to showcase some of the amazing people here.

As for the blog, my biggest goal is to provide consistent and sizeable updates about the progress on PINPIN. The game is still in early prototyping and concept stages, but I would be remiss to not start documenting progress. Posts concerning game updates will come on the first Friday of every other month. You can expect screenshots, GIFs, artwork, and a myriad of whatever we deem best showcases the progress for the month.

Outside of the bi-monthly updates on the game, any future news concerning Oscuroso or PINPIN: TILTEDTALE will be shared here! Social media accounts? Discord server? Imaginary pop-up cafe? This will be the hub for communicating all of that alongside the progress of the game.

IV. The Future and Next Steps

If you're asking what my ultimate goal is here, I hope it's become pretty apparent through this post: I want to fully realize PINPIN: TILTEDTALE! I've dreamed of having the chance to make an RPG since I was young, and I think I've got enough experience under my belt to make that happen. For the short term, I hope to make a prototype and have a few playtests this year to iterate enough to make a sizeable public demo. From there, I hope to get funding to flesh out the game, either through crowdfunding or other avenues. As we get going into production, we'll communicate any major goals or timelines we create to make sure we're on track for a game that people can experience and enjoy.

Back to that ticket now. I hope the concept of exploring a new world like the world of PINPIN has started to sound more appealing in a way that doesn't make you regret having a one-way ticket (though it's okay to still feel trepidation at the thought of being launched by a massive spring). I can promise that the world will be filled with humor, whimsy, and a whole lot of bad flippin' puns.

With all that said, I want to thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings here. I also want to thank all my friends for believing in me and helping me realize this game. I hope that you'll stick with us—by subscribing to our mailing list—and follow PINPIN: TILTEDTALE as we shape it up to be a game worth experiencing. :-)

See ya' next time.