Zeboyd Games is a

indie developer An indie video game or indie game (short for independent video game) is a video game created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A ...

specializing in

retro Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from the past, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. It has been argued that there is a nostalgia cycle in popular culture. Definition The term ...

-style

16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two ...

role-playing video games Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

. Zeboyd is most associated with its co-creators Robert Boyd and William Stiernberg, who did the great majority of the work for their games. Stiernberg left the studio in 2023, but it continues onward under Boyd. Much of the studio's work is comedic in nature and parodies

Lovecraftian horror Lovecraftian horror, also called cosmic horror or eldritch horror, is a subgenre of horror, fantasy fiction and weird fiction that emphasizes the horror of the unknowable and incomprehensible more than gore or other elements of shock. It is na ...

. Its first games were the

interactive fiction Interactive fiction (IF) is software simulating environments in which players use text Command (computing), commands to control Player character, characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narrati ...

works ''Epiphany In Spaaace!'' and ''Molly the Were-Zompire'' for

Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...

; which were remastered for

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

in 2023. Soon afterward'','' the studio released its first RPGs, '' Breath of Death VII'' and '' Cthulhu Saves the World''. The studio was then contracted to develop the third and fourth installments in the '' Penny Arcade Adventures'' series. In 2017, Zeboyd released the original IP '' Cosmic Star Heroine'', a sci-fi adventure. The studio subsequently returned to comedy games with '' Cthulhu Saves Christmas'' and '' This Way Madness Lies''. The studio's games are typically short in length, and have been positively received by critics and commended for their writing, gameplay and value.

Games

''Epiphany in Spaaace! and Molly the Were-Zompire''

''Epiphany In Spaaace!'' is an

story released on October 20, 2009 on

Xbox Live Indie Games Xbox Live Indie Games (XBLIG; previously called Xbox Live Community Games, XBLCG) were video games created by individual developers or small teams of developers released on Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace for the Xbox 360. The games were develop ...

. A

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

parody, it follows the travails of Philemon K. Bort (possible Captain of the U.S.S. Epiphany, one of the latest additions to the Universal Galactic Space Corps fleet). ''Molly the Were-Zompire'' was released shortly afterwards on December 10, 2009. It follows the character Molly Desper, who is turned into a were-zombie-vampire. Both titles sold about 500-700 copies. A

remastered A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...

compilation pack of both games, under the modified title ''Molly the Werezompire'', was released for

on December 29, 2023. Sam Wachter of ''RPGamer'' reviewed both games as "hilarious", saying that despite their short length, they were well worth the price.

''Breath of Death VII: The Beginning''

Co-created with William Stiernberg, ''Breath of Death VII: The Beginning'' was released on April 22, 2010, on Xbox Live Indie Games. A retro-style comedy RPG, Dem the Skeleton Knight, Sara the Ghost Historian, Lita the Vampire Techie, and Erik the Zombie Prince are customized via a branching ability tree. Robert felt that most turn-based RPGs were too slow, so ''Breath of Death VII'' battles employ a combo system based on

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional Character (arts), character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters tha ...

choices with

non-player character A non-player character (NPC) is a character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster (or referee) rather than by a ...

s receiving a strength bonus based on how many turns the fight has gone, giving the battles a pseudo time limit. Additionally, the number of encounters in an area are limited. With more than 40,000 sales, ''Breath of Death VII'' has a 2/3 conversion rate from the trial. Despite its title, it is the only game of its "series", and the previous "six" do not exist. The title is simply a parody of serial RPGs whose sequels are often not in chronological order.

''Cthulhu Saves the World''

Co-created with Bill Stiernberg, ''Cthulhu Saves the World'' was released on December 30, 2010 on Xbox Live.

Cthulhu Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was introduced in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pantheon ...

, the squid-faced, winged god created by

H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...

emerges from the sea after centuries of slumber only to find his dark powers immediately sealed away by a mysterious holy wizard. A narrator then informs the player that the only way to break the curse is to become a true hero. Quickly breaking the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...

, Cthulhu informs the narrator that he was eavesdropping and now knows how to break the curse. Like ''Breath of Death VII'', ''Cthulhu Saves the World'' has a branching level-up system and caps random encounters in an area (there is an option where the player can choose from the menu to have additional encounters). The " Hey There, Cthulhu" music video was produced by Nakatomi HMC using the parody song written and recorded by Eben Brooks. All in-game music was composed and recorded by Gordon McNeil. Zeboyd Games began a Kickstarter fundraiser towards development of an enhanced version of the game for PC and Xbox 360 platforms; it was more than successfully funded on February 16, 2011, garnering over twice the fundraiser's goal. The new version was officially announced on March 14, 2011, retitling the game as "''Cthulhu Saves the World: Super Hyper Enhanced Championship Edition Alpha Diamond DX Plus Alpha FES HD - Premium Enhanced Game of the Year Collector's Edition (without Avatars!)''". The PC version was released on July 13, 2011 together with Breath of Death VII on Valve's

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

service. The Steam version was a financial success, making more revenue in its first week of release than in a year and a half on the Xbox 360. By November 21, 2011, the "Zeboyd Games Combo Pack" (''Cthulhu Saves the World'' & ''Breath of Death VII'') had sold over 100,000 copies on Steam in less than four months after release.

''Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3 and 4''

Zeboyd Games developed ''Episode 3'' of '' Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness'', which was released on June 25, 2012. Robert Boyd and Bill Stiernberg, along with

Jerry Holkins Jerry Holkins (born Parkinson"Holkins is a combination of Holcomb (hers) and Parkinson (mine)." https://twitter.com/TychoBrahe/status/12073336701 on February 6, 1976) is an American writer. He is the co-creator and writer of the webcomic '' Penny ...

and Jeff Kalles, hosted a panel at PAX East in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

on April 6, 2012. Zeboyd Games also developed ''Episode 4'', which was released on June 7, 2013.

''Cosmic Star Heroine''

''Cosmic Star Heroine'' is a science fiction RPG that was released in April 2017 for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

and

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

. A PS Vita and Nintendo Switch version followed in 2018. It received positive reviews."Cosmic Star Heroine for PS4 Reviews"

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, Retrieved 2 August 2017"Cosmic Star Heroine for PC Reviews"

, Retrieved 2 August 2017

''Cthulhu Saves Christmas''

Zeboyd officially announced '' Cthulhu Saves Christmas'', a prequel to ''Cthulhu Saves the World'', on their personal website on July 29, 2019. It was subsequently released on PC on December 23, 2019. In the side-scrolling JRPG, Cthulhu teams up with Santa Claus’s granddaughter to stop Jack Frost before Christmas is cancelled forever. Along the way he fights

Krampus The Krampus () is a horned anthropomorphic figure who, in the Central and Eastern Alpine folkloric tradition, is said to accompany Saint Nicholas on visits to children during the night of 5 December (''Krampusnacht''; "Krampus Night"), imme ...

Mari Lwyd The Mari Lwyd (, ) is a wassailing tradition, folk custom in South Wales. The tradition entails the use of an eponymous hobby horse which is made from a horse's skull mounted on a pole and carried by an individual hidden under a sheet. The custo ...

, and other “Christmas League of Evil villains” in turn-based combat. He also builds “ R'lyehtionship” levels with his friends.

''This Way Madness Lies''

''This Way Madness Lies'' is a Shakespeare-themed

magical girl is a Genre#Subgenre, subgenre of primarily Japanese fantasy media (including anime, manga, light novels, and live-action media) centered on young girls who possess magical abilities, which they typically use through an ideal alter ego into wh ...

role-playing game. It was released on November 10, 2022 for

References

External links

Official Zeboyd Games websiteHey There Cthulhu: The Photomontage Video
{{Zeboyd Games American companies established in 2009 Video game companies established in 2009 Companies based in Lake Arrowhead, California Video game companies of the United States Video game development companies 2009 establishments in California Privately held companies based in California