Kudzu
Kudzu is a non-linear adventure for Game Boy about a man trying to save his mentor from a world-eating plant!
You are Max, the apprentice gardener, who discovers that his mentor, Zoen, has mysteriously wandered into the nearby kudzu field. The revelations that follow will lead Max and his friends through a mystery centuries in the making! Max will need to face down dangerous creatures such as snakes, bugs, living flowers, and unimaginable monsters controlled by the kudzu itself.
Kudzu is a game in development set to be published in 2023 by Mega Cat Studios - You can preorder the final physical cartridge release at the Kudzu Kickstarter page NOW! The web build and ROM editions above features a demo version of the first area of the game.
Please note the demo is in *BETA* and there are bugs which will be worked out before the final game is released.
Features
- Explore ruined fields, gardens, forests, a haunted estate, and mysterious caverns.
- Master a variety of gardening tools including the machete, hoe, gardening gloves, and rake!
- Meet weird and helpful characters through a variety of quests and side-missions!
- Battle over 8 epic bosses!
- Solve the mysteries of the kudzu field in a story that spans centuries!
Controls
- Arrow keys to move or navigate in the menu (D-pad)
- Z to interact (corresponds to A button)
- X to attack once you get the machete (corresponds to B button)
- Enter for menu (corresponds to Start)
- Shift for map once you buy it (corresponds to Select)
Game credits:
- Game concept and design, programming, and art by Chris Totten
- Game concept by Clara Totten
- Art by Chris Totten, Daelyn Bever, and Evan DiGiacomo
- Inspiration from Max Shea, Grace Shea and Ellie Shea
- Game testing: Adeline, Margaret, and Will Totten
- Team pets: Kiki, Pinecone, Butter, and Nuttsquash
- Music composed by Brandon Ellis (Cityfires)
- Mega Cat Studios:
- James Deighan - Producer
- Mina Figueroa - Marketing guru
- Special thanks:
- Chris Maltby and the GB Studio team
- The GB Studio community
- You, the player!
Download
Install instructions
A Game Boy emulator is required to play the game. Kudzu can also be flashed to a Game Boy cartridge.
Development log
- Kudzu is done - new demo builds and INSTRUCTION BOOKLET PDF available!Sep 14, 2023
- Publisher news and upcoming crowdfunding campaign!Jul 15, 2022
- Kudzu version 0.5 released - enter the Garden!Nov 08, 2021
- Early October update for KudzuOct 13, 2021
- Kudzu Game Boy ROM now available in Early Access!Aug 14, 2021
- Kudzu has music now! Early access ROM download coming soon!Aug 11, 2021
- July 17th 2021 update - tons of new content and features!Jul 18, 2021
- 12-28-20 Kudzu updateDec 28, 2020
Comments
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I know this has been asked, even within like the past 24 hours, but I'm hoping for a better answer.
The rom is not available anywhere (?)
Please reach out to Mega Cat Studios regarding sales of a ROM version. Due to my publishing deal, I cannot directly sell ROMs of the game on itch.
will the full Gameboy rom be available for sale?
I would check Mega Cat Studios' website - that would be their call as the publisher: https://megacatstudios.com/collections/handhelds/products/kudzu
I had already checked. No rom is available for sale at Mega Cat Studios' website. That's why I asked if one will be.
Unfortunately, that is not my decision to make, as they are the ones who can choose how to sell the game.
I’m not asking you to make a decision. I’m asking what you know about your publisher’s plans. Have you never talked to your publisher about their plans for your game?
We've mainly talked about physical and console. If you would like one, I would recommend e-mailing them to demonstrate that it is something consumers would like.
Will there be or is there a digital version of the GB rom?
That would be handled by the publisher, Mega Cat Studios. See their page here: https://megacatstudios.com/collections/handhelds/products/kudzu
Nintendo Switch Version ???.
its for retro handhelds
It came out on Nintendo Switch today: https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/kudzu-switch/
no way awesome. I'm going to buy it thanks :D
No it's a video game, not a game console :-P
JK - it's coming April 5 published by 8 Bit Legit.
How much will it be on the eshop on Nintendo Switch?.
$5
Thank you. I look forward too playing it.
Nicely done!
Ran into an annoying bug (on the full game) - after I collected the missing page, it didn’t appear in my inventory. I couldn’t progress, now I think I have to start over.
:(
I also ran into the two other bugs mentioned, fragmented boss during the fight and killing roots counting twice.
Would also be nice if the mushroom total appeared on the inventory screen so I didn’t have to navigate to the mushroom and click on it every time to get the total.
Thanks for reaching out - we're looking into these. Both the QA folks at Mega Cat and myself have not seen these bugs appear in multiple playthroughs of the latest versions, so future editions of the game are looking good to go!
I didn't have the issue with the missing page once I started over, and luckily it was much faster to get to that point a second time 'round. I did see the fragmented first boss but it didn't affect gameplay, only visuals. At the Manor now and enjoying it so far!
One other thing I've noticed is that viewing the inventory screen can reset the state of the screen a bit, like enemy positions reset and chopped kudzu reappears when you come back to the level from the map or inventory. Though maybe it just grows back while you're not looking ;)
Oh that's good to know then about the page. The fragmenting boss is sadly a limitation of the version of the engine that Kudzu was built in - it's as stable as we can get it (if I try anything else it splits into left and right halves instead of front and back halves.) There weren't "big sprites" until later versions of GB Studio. Likewise, enemy positions reset because the pause menu is a separate scene (the only way to do it at this level) so you're reloading the scene every time. To keep all the enemies in their same positions with the tools I have would require A LOT of extra variables that Game Boy roms don't have. It's all this little stuff that I know folks expect because Link's Awakening and other commercial 90's games have, but they were dealing with different tools/capabilities (coding with highly efficient languages for speaking directly to GB hardware), and it goes to show you how much actually goes into these games!
As a digital Kickstarter backer I have been enjoying this game so far. It's a bit rough around the edges but it's a fun experience.
I did find a method where you can get credit twice for killing a single boss door kudzu root in the first area. I only mention it because that can allow you to skip sections of the game and wanted to make sure it wasn't intended.
Thanks for reporting the bug. We looked and decided to leave it as a speedrun strat.
Hey I actually had a similar bug to this where during Solidago's Boss fight it happened on his final hitpoint. It caused his defeat dialog sequence to loop twice, and then I didn't get the proceeding cutscene where the screen shakes and you're directed towards the mountain gate. I don't know if it's game breaking because I reset instead of trying to find out, but figured I should bring it up regardless. I've been recording my playthrough for the video I've been working on so I actually have footage of it happening, which you can see here:
Hope this helps, love the game!
Anyword on a restock on ghe site?
Mega Cat is fulfilling the Kickstarter preorders now and will be making physical editions widely available in January.
Has There too been any update on the Switch game ?. I am hoping too see you're game showcased during the next Indie Word for Switch.
Hi! We're preparing that right now with 8 Bit Legit. Stay tuned!
Hi! I'm working with Mega Cat Studios to have it published in physical form.
I would like to support/purchase the ROM for your game, I do not have a need for the physical cart though. Will there be an option to purchase a full version of the game in digital form when it's released?
Please stay tuned to my publisher's website (Mega Cat Studios), as any digital versions will likely be done through them. They're also planning a Nintendo Switch version https://megacatstudios.com/pages/kudzu
How much too pre order the game ?.
Please stay tuned to my publisher's website (Mega Cat Studios), as any digital versions will likely be done through them. They're also planning a Nintendo Switch version https://megacatstudios.com/pages/kudzu
I am looking forward too the Switch game.
I encountered a bug while fighting the boss (playing in the browser). It was after I damaged the boss one time. While moving to the left, one quarter of him detached from the rest of his body. Then he kept charging forward, but not spawning any more weevils. When charging, the lower right quarter of him stays still while the other three move. You can also see an explosion or something above him.
Update: After chopping that explosion spot, it turned into a weevil and trapped the boss, which seems to have mostly fixed things. The boss came back together as one entity. It still didn't move side to side anymore; it just kept shooting and charging forward. But I was able to finish the fight.
Thanks for the info - that's a known bug and I'm going to work on it as I wrap up production in the next few weeks.
This looks cool! Will the older versions ever be reuploaded anywhere? I sometimes like looking at the differences between older and newer versions over time.
Hi there - that's not likely to happen since the game is being released through a publisher.
Yo why is the rom unfinished?
Thanks for the comment! The ROM here is just a demo of the full game, which will be published by Mega Cat Studios later this year.
Roughly when? I'll buyba hard copy
We have preorders up on Kickstarter right now (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/megacatstudios/kudzu-a-brand-new-game-for-t... ) and we're looking at the end of the year for general availability on the Mega Cat website.
Download link?
Hi - my publisher has asked that I take it down since we'll be offering the game as a physical release early next year.
Hello
Where has the download gone to? I purchased the game for 12 bucks but I'm not able to download it anymore.
Hi! We've gotten a publisher for the game and they've asked that I take the download link down (Mega Cat Studios - they'll be releasing the game as a physical GB cartridge). However, I've worked it out so that folks who bought the game here will get an updated ROM for free when the game is released. I'll make sure to e-mail everyone when that's ready.
Agreeing with the other comment, the sie of the hit boxes is ridiculous.
Like for example the flowers: I stand fara enough away that the flying past pellets and me have 5 meters inbetween us.
yet I get hit nonetheless cause the hitbox is apparently so damn big.
or dying snake, gives me game over sicne I am apparently inside its hit box.
hit boxes need to fit the actual objects better.
Hi there! I'm working on the beta version of the full game now (which is going to get a physical release) and have done some tweaks to collision and i-frames so this should hopefully be less of an issue. With the tools I have, it's impossible to edit the hitboxes themselves, but with the workarounds I've added, the new version plays smoother (I'll likely update the demo soon too once the full thing goes into beta.)
This is a pretty amazing game, I wanted to finish the demo but the collisions are a little annoying.
It would be amazing to make the collision boxes of either the player or enemies smaller so it doesn't feel it is pixel perfect and I get damaged because of a very tiny pixel difference.
Overall, love the whole design, read your articles about the world design of the game and it is incredible :) Just repeating a long sequence of the game made me feel I either need to play it in an emulator with save states so I don't need to do all of that or maybe add more save points :)
A minor suggestion: I think you could change the health to be hearts like zelda instead of value since the smallest damage is always 25 :)
Thanks again for creating this game and looking forward for the final version :)
Thank you for the very nice comments and feedback! I'm going to do what I can within what the engine (GB Studio) allows, but those are some things that I've seen in other playtests and will try to take a look.
¿final versión?
The current ROM is not the final version.
I just saw your game on twitter. I have two questions. The cart you are flashing will be avalaible for sale ? Any demo for the game ? Thx
Hi! The demo is on the website and playable in browser. I don't have anything to announce at the moment regarding physical copies but it is something we are pursuing. We'll announce on Twitter and Itch if plans for a physical edition crystalize.
thx.
Neat game !
Could you share the box art on this page ?
It's only available as a thumbnail for this page as far as I know, and only partially
Very beautiful and cool!
Looks fantastic and easily my favourite start screen I've seen on a GBS game so far. The book in the library needs a space between andrequire by the way.
Looking forward to playing more of it
Fixed! Thanks for the heads up.
Will you make it possible to download the ROM? That would make it easier for me to play
I will after I clean some things up and add some stuff. It got into MAGFest so that should be happening in the next few weeks so that the demo is con-ready :-)
cool :)
I don't have a select key on my keyboard.
Oops - that was a typo. The Shift key stands in for the Select button when playing on a keyboard.I edited that section of the description so it's correct now.
in gb studio
hay can i use your combat in my game just pls
I've been asked to publish a guide for GB Studio Central, so keep an eye out for that!
Add checkpoints
Thanks for the feedback! There are 2 save tents where you can save your progress. I'll make sure they show up on the map in future versions of the demo though (the map was a very late addition before a deadline so it's very basic right now.)
I love this! I really enjoy the overgrown jungly vibe. It’s a little hard because you don’t have any invincibility frames. Great graphics too
Thanks for the feedback! Yeah - I'm still working with the "disable collision" scripting function on the player character to sort out how to do better invincibility frames, but that's absolutely on the list (along with making the snakes not turn into pinballs when hit...)