ChainStaff: action platformer with a transforming grappling hook

[MommysBestGames]

Hey all, I finally got to reveal my next game, it's called ChainStaff.
Here's a gameplay trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa4DCIx3QHM
It's a "long form run n gun" like my own game Serious Sam DD XXL, or like Guns Gore and Cannoli, or like Valfaris.
ChainStaff will hopefully be about 4 to 6 hours long on first playthrough. It's not a metroidvania, but there is a reasons to revisit some levels. It has unique upgrades, with all levels being hand-designed. And I'm hoping for 3 different endings, and a New Game+ that carries upgrades over.

Gameplay is a pretty tough, but fair. I got to demo the game to the public at the IGN Live show this weekend. We had 4 booths open and lots of people played and I was happy to see a good percentage beat the level 1 boss (giant skull boss in the screens up there). Some played the boss 15+ times but finally beat it and seemed really happy about the difficulty (others beat it after 3-5 tries which is probably in line with core run n gun players).

Hoping to have 10 unique levels--all different, all unique monsters. I like that sort of thing.
If you like it at all please wishlist it on Steam as it helps me get the game noticed by more people.
Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2976260/ChainStaff/
Thanks!

[BulletMagnet]

Just saw that a handful of MBG's previous releases on Steam were upgraded to the "DX" versions in anticipation of this one, so cheers for that. Looking forward to more on the latest project!

[MommysBestGames]

Hey all, I made a "developer update video" for ChainStaff that covers how I've been working hard to improve the player animations.
I wanted to get away from the player looking like "a sliding block with animations on it", and more like a cool, little guy you actually control. Hope you like it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQf6I7QfdR4

[MommysBestGames]

Here's a new video log I did on how I'm working to make sure the camera in my action-platformer isn't garbage.
Let me know if you have any good examples of cameras in 2D platformers that I should check out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdWX-CAC4_Q

[MommysBestGames]

Here's a new video with lots of monster animations and how I'm adding a bit of 3D movement to my 2D hand-painted sprites for ChainStaff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxheeQI ... lAJ4AaABAg

What are your favorite looking 2D HD games?
I think mine is probably Dragon's Crown, but I also think the recent Target Earth remaster looked great too.

[m.sniffles.esq]

What are your favorite looking 2D HD games?

Probably the 2D Rayman games

PS My niece is currently horrible addicted to Pig Eat Ball and my sister is angry at me for giving it to her. So thanks a lot.


PPS I look forward to getting her horribly addicted to the new one when released

[MommysBestGames]

Oh good call on the Rayman games.
After I posted this I remembered how much I liked Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection--the game and the art. That had a nice HD look. Painterly too.

Also thanks for mentioning love for Pig Eat Ball. That's super cool to hear!

[m.sniffles.esq]

Also allow me to to give "old school honorable mention" to MYSTIC DEFENDER (all caps = mine)

I wouldn't call it a good game (because it isn't really) but MAN is the graphic design to that thing WEIRD (I have a suspicions that someone at Sega was watching a lot of Tsui Hark movies)

Okay, one more PS (a 'ppps' if such a thing is even allowed) then I'll stop bugging you: if there's a Pig Eat Ball ost available anywhere, not only would my niece would LOVE it (she seriously just randomly cruises around the overworld to listen to the song), but it would make my sister CRAZY. I noticed there were soundtracks to other games)

[MommysBestGames]

Also allow me to to give "old school honorable mention" to MYSTIC DEFENDER (all caps = mine)
I wouldn't call it a good game (because it isn't really) but MAN is the graphic design to that thing WEIRD

Does it surprise you that I ADORE Mystic Defender? A bit of a mess, but such cool monsters and generally freaky action!

(I have a suspicions that someone at Sega was watching a lot of Tsui Hark movies)

Let's not derail the thread too much further, but tell me one or two of his movies that makes you think of Mystic Defender. I wanna see them!

Okay, one more PS (a 'ppps' if such a thing is even allowed) then I'll stop bugging you: if there's a Pig Eat Ball ost available anywhere

Granted! Some kind soul put this together. Hope it suffices.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFiy ... xpnlBPHny-

[m.sniffles.esq]

Granted! Some kind soul put this together. Hope it suffices.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFiy ... xpnlBPHny-

Perfect! I never thought of checking youtube, and she doesn't realize there is another way to listen to music other than streaming. Thank you!

Let's not derail the thread too much further, but tell me one or two of his movies that makes you think of Mystic Defender. I wanna see them!

Oh, gee... Pretty much anything that has to do with 'fantasy', that he was involved with (either as producer or director) up to the point that game was made has something that's a little too similar to be a coincidence.

Let's see, keeping with the old/new precedent I set for myself, I'll make old/medium/newer recommendations

Old: Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (This movie is all about dudes in odd looking jumpsuits shooting balls of light at skull monsters and shit. See also: Legend of Zu (aka Zu Warriors) his insane remake/sequel/who-knows-what that he made Miramax buy him a CG studio to produce so he could attempt--in his words--'"to paint a movie". This one includes a sequence where a woman fights giant demonic... action figures (maybe. I really have no idea what to call them) that use their spines as swords. Both are akin to reading x-men #168 without having a clue what happened in the other 167 issues)

Medium: A Chinese Ghost Story (okay, this has a comparatively straight-forward narrative. Boy meets ghost who's the thrall of a tree demon. That old tale... Anyway, I'm at loss of describing pretty much anything. You'll have to watch a trailer or something.)

Newer: Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings (Okay, a lot of people consider the Dee movies to be typical Chinese new year 3D tacky specticals, and while they are that, how many of them have climaxes that involve a monk riding a giant white gorilla that's fighting a demon made of eyeballs? This one has that, and MUCH more)

[BIL]

Also allow me to to give "old school honorable mention" to MYSTIC DEFENDER (all caps = mine)

I wouldn't call it a good game (because it isn't really) but MAN is the graphic design to that thing WEIRD (I have a suspicions that someone at Sega was watching a lot of Tsui Hark movies)

Daww! Kujaku Ou II is a solid performer imo. Action-wise it's nothing that couldn't have been done on FC, but that's never a bad thing on my shelf. Sometimes a better thing tbh, avoids the snags of more ambitious stuff like Alisia Dragoon. Has a particularly excellent flamethrower weapon. I suspect it shared staff with fellow throwbacks Rambo III and Jewel Master.

Anyway, you should check out the source manga if you haven't! Lots more eerie folkloric ero-bodyhorror where that came from. As if B00BZ on the MD sleeve art wasn't hint enough!

[m.sniffles.esq]

Anyway, you should check out the source manga if you haven't!

I had no idea of the existence of such a thing!

(only somewhat related -- A few years ago I was digging through an old hard drive back-up to see if it contained anything I cared about, and came across this:

Spoiler

having absolutely no clue where it came from. But obviously, I found it worth saving)

(I apologize for the complete thread derailment)

[Lander]

Those sweeping rock arcs in the background of the top screenshot are lovely, do I detect some Shadow of the Beast II - nay, Roger Dean - influence?

[MommysBestGames]

Anyway, you should check out the source manga if you haven't! Lots more eerie folkloric ero-bodyhorror where that came from. As if B00BZ on the MD sleeve art wasn't hint enough!

Whoa, didn''t know about the manga either! Thanks!

(I apologize for the complete thread derailment)

If we're talking about Mystic Defender, that suits me fine! Freaky monsters and Sega Genesis games were big influences on my game.

Those sweeping rock arcs in the background of the top screenshot are lovely, do I detect some Shadow of the Beast II - nay, Roger Dean - influence?

Love the art in that game, so yes! Dean is definitely a big influence on the art!
Trying to honor all the greats from the '70s and '80s. I love the work of Frazetta, Valejo/Bell, Roger Dean, Bruce Pennington, John Berkey, Philippe Druillet, Moebius, Keith Parkinson, Patrick Woodroffe, and many more!
Anything with a textured, painterly style, dramatic colors and weird monsters.

[MommysBestGames]

Hey everyone, for your weekend gaming pleasure, the free demo to ChainStaff is now live on Steam!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2976260/ChainStaff/
Please give it a go, let me know how you like it.

It does work best with an xbox style controller (though mouse and keyboard work too).
And it works great on a Steamdeck.
Happy shooting!

[MommysBestGames]

We got approved to bring ChainStaff to Xbox and Playstation later in 2025!
PS: https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10014011
Xbox: https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/ ... NW5VP/0010

To celebrate, here is a new trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw2UrXEtVg8
It's got some new monsters with gross, dangly bits to shoot.

[BIL]

Congrats on the approval! Got an interesting look to it, this one... kinda creepy, kinda floral? Lots of menacing chitin and tusks. Almost reminds of a ground campaign in Crying/Biohazard Battle's vibrantly deadly world. Always interested to see how you're getting on with it!

[guigui]

All of this looks nice, congrats on the future release on consoles.

(cant even believe BIL missed the last screenshot actually belongs to the Dick Stock thread)

[BIL]

(cant even believe BIL missed the last screenshot actually belongs to the Dick Stock thread)

[BulletMagnet]

If the phrase "gross, dangly bits to shoot" makes an appearance it's kind of assumed, methinks.

[Some guy]

Game looks awesome, I'll be keeping an eye on this one!

[MommysBestGames]

Thanks gang!
Working hard on it to make it as cool as possible. Got add sound effect today to my giant, jumping chicken-monster midboss

Hey if you are interested in becoming a playtester, check on the website there's a link right there.
I'd love to get some hardcore, retro shmup/action-platformer fans giving me feedback before launch!
https://chainstaffgame.com/

[MommysBestGames]

We made a kick-ass new trailer with a great theme:
"Eat Your Heart Out"
I think it's one of our best trailers yet, see what you think.
TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ll8qEGjcOc

If you like fighting lots of extremely weird monsters and colors that "make your eyes bleed" (so I've been told) check it out!

You are trapped inside a jelly-cage with some furry monster arms trying to grab you.

I am still working hard on it, probably will be more like next year, not this year launch. (That's a secret though )

[BulletMagnet]

Every time I think "he can't possibly make his next game any squishier" I am proved wrong. He has not yet begun to squish.

[MommysBestGames]

A few new things about ChainStaff:
I lost my publisher (they went out of business) so I'm moving the release date to early 2026 to give me more time to market the game.

I've updated the demo on Steam to now include several story cutscenes, and it also has Difficulty selections!
I've had people tell me the game is: too hard, just right, and too easy.
Well hopefully this let's people pick what's a better challenge for everyone. Let me know what you think.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2976260

Here is a video showing off the hand-tuned difficulty where I edit the levels layout, (instead of just increasing all enemy health)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1FoDR0GkfM

[MommysBestGames]

Anyone going to MAGFest this weekend?
I made a life-sized ChainStaff you can pose and take pics with.
Hope to see some of you there!


Here's a video of how I made it.
Lots of fun build details of styrofoam and latex paint.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3p8pnvC9mk

[MommysBestGames]

For those interested, I get to announce a couple cool things today.
We have a launch date!
April 8th, ChainStaff will come out on consoles and Steam.
And we have a pre-order for some consoles and a price: $14.99.
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2976260/ChainStaff
Switch (pre-order): https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/produ ... ff-switch/
Xbox (pre-order): https://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/ ... mbbn7nw5vp
Playstation: https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10014011

Here's the new "Launch Date" trailer (with new monsters and weapons shown):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR_OtOJtCkI

And lastly, I updated the Steam demo, it now has a cheat code system.
If you like cheats and kinda breaking the game a bit, I'm sharing cheats over on the discord.
Okay fine, here's one cheat for you guys (and you don't even have to join the discord )
"level time" shows a clock as you play a given level. Good for speed running.

[FunktionJCB]

For those interested, the game launched a couple of days ago.

I look forward to give it a go.

[MommysBestGames]

Yup, game is live!
Here is the launch trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnOzyVBIKsA
We've had some very nice reviews like PC Gamer saying "Trippy, psychedelic alien shooter ChainStaff shows there are still new ways for games to be 'retro'"
And Nintendo World Report saying it's "rad as hell" and "ChainStaff is one of the coolest freaking platformers I’ve played in a long time."
The demo is still up on Steam and it's out on all consoles as well. Enjoy!

[guigui]

Congrats on the release !
Definitely looking forward to this one since announced, the trailer looks nice.
No demo on consoles though ?