The creator of 'My Little Pony' is crowdsourcing a fighting game with unicorns and alpacas
LatestWhen Lauren Faust created My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, she introduced a generation of grown men to what young girls have known for quite some time now: unicorns and majestic pegasuses are fantastic.
What began as Hasbro’s attempt at breathing new life into a classic toy franchise from the ’80s quickly blossomed into a sprawling, intense fanbase of people who all wanted to go to Equestria. First there were toys, then there was a television show, and now,thanks to the fandom, there’s an epic fighting game.
Them’s Fightin’ Herds is equal parts My Little Pony and Street Fighter and it will kick you in the face (with hooves, no less).
As time has gone on, MLP has naturally grown into something much larger than a television show and toys for kids. Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony delves into the world of adult men who find themselves drawn to the magic of the My Little Pony fandom.While it’s easy to write Bronies off as weird guys slowly creeping their way into a community that was never meant for them, they’re a large part of how Them’s Fightin’ Herds came to be. Back in 2013, Mane6, TFH’s developer, was hard at work on a My Little Pony fighting game called Fighting Is Magic that featured characters from the actual television show.
After receiving a cease and desist letter from Hasbro, Mane6’s game was stalled in the water…until Faust reached out to the team with a proposal: Why not create a different world filled with all-new, four-legged equine fighters?
“After a few seconds we accepted her offer,” TFH animator Jay Wright explains in a fundraising video on Indiegogo.
Them’s Fightin’ Herds takes place in the lands of Fœnum, a sprawling world inhabited by sentient, talking, four-legged mammals. Though Fœnum’s generally a peaceful place, Faust explains, it’s slowly but surely being invaded by Predators, the sort of shadowy beasts that prey on deer and sheep.In typical fighting game fashion, the various kingdoms of Fœnum elect champions to track down and fight the leader of the Predators.
“From the beginning, our goal with this game has been to create an experience that’s adorable, but mechanically serious,” explained lead game designer Omari Smith. “Even though the game is really cute on the outside, there’s plenty more to dig into as you play.”
In the two days since Them’s Fightin’ Herds has been up on Indiegogo the project’s raised over $130,000. There’s still 29 days left to go and over $300,000 left to raise, so if really, really want to watch a cartoon alpaca stomp the hell out of a lamb, now’s your chance to help make it happen.