Most video game role-playing games have you playing a human or demihuman going on quests and solving puzzles. Sometimes these players have critter helpers: a dog, a horse, perhaps even a bird. But what if you could play those animal helpers? What if a game allowed you to run that character through a virtual reality simulator, so you could see or smell or hear what the animal does or use animal skills like flying or running as fast as a horse?
In Animal Eye, game playtesters Khin May and Jake get that opportunity. Khin May plays a crow named Ahva and Jake plays a large, shaggy dog named Nagheed. They start in different parts of the game world on a converging course that starts with finding their humans and helping them solve quests, explore the continent, and discover as much as they can about resilient maniacal killers.
Now, a year after the release of that novel, Bear Publications is releasing a full-color comic book mini-series in six 24-page parts. The comic books use the novel’s plot for a basis and follow the adventures of Ahva the Crow, Nagheed the Dog, and Jael the Bear.
The novel’s author, Cindy Koepp, took care of translating the novel into a comic book script with some guidance from Brian K Morris of Rising Tide Publications. Filipino artist Rowell Cruz did a stellar job turning that script into all the artwork. Issues 1 is completed, and Issue 2 is in the works.
If you want to get in on the action, go to http://bit.ly/AnimalEyeKS and pledge toward the crowdfunding campaign. Digital or physical copies of the novel and the first issue of the comic are available at multiple backer levels along with some fun book swag. Check it out!
Kids' GameLit, Fantasy and SciFi 