Beeswing Is A Handcrafted, Earthbound-Inspired Mini-Epic
A Link to Jack King-Spooner's past
Although maybe un-epic would be a better descriptor. Beeswing is the latest labor of love and ceaselessly wonderful oddity from gaming's most thoughtful madman, Jack King-Spooner. Previously, his mighty brain egg hatched to unleash the likes of Sluggish Morss, Blues For Mittavinda, Will You Ever Return, and a portion of Experiment 12 upon an unsuspecting populace. I honestly do not believe there's anyone else out there who makes games like his. I mean, Blues For Mittavinda had me physically (in real life) meditate, for goodness sake. It was both a total trip and a contemplative journey, a soothing exploration of just how normal absolute strangeness can be. And now King-Spooner's looking to extend that sensibility to a semi-autobiographical Earthbound and Zelda-inspired exploration RPG in Beeswing. This is very good news.
Beewsing's graphics will be entirely handcrafted, ranging from drawings to paintings to claymation. You'll meet "hundreds" of bizarre yet soulful characters and drink in their stories - which, it's key to note, are the very same ones that King-Spooner grew up learning and living by in Scotland.
"Beeswing was home for me for the formative years of my life. The time I spent there shaped the person I grew up to be. The people I loved and their stories have stayed with me ever since. This game seeks to document a quality of that."
"It is a story about the past, about community and childhood, attachment and growing up. Scottish folk tales, morally dubious parables, cloudy anecdotes and more contemporary stories of homelessness and immigration all combine to create a truly dynamic narrative."
I'd be skeptical or perhaps even put off if it were anyone else making similar claims, but King-Spooner's previous games speak for themselves. This man has some magnificently moving stories to tell, and I for one would certainly like to hear more of them. Better still, Beeswing looks to veer closer to the realms of reality - away from the unhinged though utterly human spaces King-Spooner's work typically occupies. It'll be interesting to see what sort of tale that ends up producing.
King-Spooner is asking for a modest £2,250 on Kickstarter, and he's already a decent portion of the way there. Think you'll chip in a chunk or two of change?