Backbone is a Retrofuturistic Noir Starring a Raccoon Detective

Backbone is a pixel art cinematic adventure noir with stealth and action elements. But more importantly, it's a game where you play as a raccoon detective named Howard Lotor. If that doesn't immediately sell you on this game, I don't know what will.

In development by Vancouver-based studio EggNut, Backbone is currently on Kickstarter, where it is seeking funds to aid in its development. At the moment of writing this, it has raised $34,934 of its $49,358 funding goal, with 15 days still left to raise more cash money.

The campaign is an "all or nothing" ordeal, meaning if the project doesn't reach its funding goal by May 27th, it will not be awarded any of funds it has raised. However, given that it's already 70 percent the way there with 15 days left, it should have no problem raising the remaining amount.

As for the game itself, you play private investigator Howard Lotor, a grizzled raccoon who has to solve detective cases, interrogate witnesses, explore the dangerous world around him, and sneak his way to safety using "smell-based stealth mechanics."

Backbone is described as combining the visual and social contrast of film noir with retrofuturism and dystopian fiction. Taking place in a pixelated Vancouver populated with anthropomorphic animals, the game's story is said to tackle themes of prejudice and power.

Backbone is in development for PC, Mac, Linux, and consoles. It is currently poised to release sometime in 2019.

For more information and media on Backbone, be sure to peep its Kickstarter page. Or if clicking links isn't your thing, then check out an official overview of game below:

Backbone is a pixel art cinematic adventure with stealth and action elements. As a private investigator Howard Lotor you are set to solve detective cases, interrogate witnesses, explore the intriguing retrofuturistic Vancouver, and sneak your way to safety using smell-based stealth mechanics.

Backbone collides the visual and social contrasts of film noir with anthropomorphic animals and dystopian fiction. Crawl through the dark alleys of pixelated Vancouver, and experience the impactful storyline focused on themes of power and prejudice.

Gameplay

The heart of Backbone is world exploration, investigation and stealth. Become a detective: collect crucial pieces of evidence on the crime scene, interrogate witnesses, solve puzzles using in-game objects, and sneak around hostile enviornments using your sense of smell.

Story

The planet is sprawling with anthropomorphic animal species. Streets of Vancouver are overgrown with ivy and humongous trees, branches and vines piercing through the concrete, and huge flowers nesting on top of the roofs.

The Great Apes call themselves the founding fathers of this world, and they are the moral, ethical and political compass of the society.

Vancouver is surrounded by huge walls from every side to make sure that no one from across it intrudes in the utopic society constructed so carefully by the Great Apes.

Howard Lotor is a raccoon private investigator. His mundane life is interrupted with the appearance of a powerful technology that can blur the lines of conventional order and change the society forever.