For more information, check out the full website.

About the Game

Normally, one would not turn to a game about dating monsters in a fantasy realm to examine the great sociopolitical issues of our time. What -is- normal, though, these days? Soulless Wonder uses classic Visual Novel storytelling to engage players in a tale about the many faces of love, attraction, identity, jealousy, the value of individual choice… and its consequences. Also, you date monsters.

Our adventure stars a bard named Lantz who serves the Paladin Queen Zarwyn until some questionable decisions and a hot temper lead her to rip his soul away with a curse. Though the Queen has been waging a brutal war on monster kind, she casts Lantz out into their midst with the command to convince those monsters to fall in love with him… or never regain his soul!

Darkain Arts is looking to raise $37,000 in Canadian funds to bring our story to life and to pay our creators so they can eat. Artist Rod Espinosa has worked with both Marvel Comics, Dark Horse, and Antarctic Press. His hit comic ‘The Courageous Princess’ is award-nominated. Writer/producer Les Major has also worked on Antarctic Press game and comic projects, as well as independent animation. Composer Joel Steudler has produced many volumes of music for RPG Maker developers and has worked extensively with indie game creators as well as in TV and film.

Our Kickstarter campaign can be viewed here: http://kck.st/2nMZPwf

We also have a gameplay video featuring the scene mentioned above in Zarwyn’s bedchamber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xZmN7ylfW4

Our focus is on:

– Diverse characters that you can really get to know
– Recognizing that everyone has value, monsters included
– Plenty of interactive choices
– Delving into important issues without sacrificing fun

We want to create a different kind of visual novel that explores serious topics like grief and loss, bullying, transgender issues, asexuality, same-sex relationships, and more while still being fun and humorous. People (and monsters!) are complex and can only be understood when you get to know them… so character development and detailed personalities are a focus of our storytelling. It won’t be easy for Lantz to get everyone to open up, and the player may not always be successful, but just like real life Lantz will move on and his choices will lead to one of many unique endings that reflect what he’s done.