Hello, people! I've returned after two months of no posting at all to announce that I am developing a game.

"Con triste grito, busca a su hermano. Kakuy se llama y vive penando."

- Juan Carlos Carabajal

What is it about? Well, there's this legend about how the Kakuy Turay (a.k.a Urataú) bird came to be. There's plenty of Argentinian songs that explain this legend or at least mention it, my favorite one is Hermano Kakuy by Horacio banegas.

Kakuy, the "ghost bird"

It's call is pretty ominous, and I believe you'd shit yourself if you heard it while in the countryside... alone... at night (yes, it is a nocturnal bird). I certainly would.

Scary, right? It is a perfect fit for a horror game. What's even more scary is the backstory.

Backstory

So, the name "Kakuy Turay" means "Stay here, my brother" in Quechua, an indigenous language spoken in the South American Andes. The legend says that two siblings lived alone in the countryside, a hard working older brother, and a cruel little sister. A certain day, the brother got so fed up with his sister's attitude that he left her for herself on top of a tree in the forest.

Unable to climb down, she couldn't but scream "Kakuy, kakuy!" and "Turay, turay!". Eventually, she turned into a bird, while keeping a very mournful, nostalgic and melancholic call associated with death and bad homens.

Development

First, I tried to nail down the aesthetic of it all, I am going for a retro, low poly, PSX stlye, not generic at all, huh? Idc, I liek it.

Then I decided to make a creepy forest and implemented some basic movement, ambience sound and items you can use (no functionality tho). I am doing all this in Godot btw.

Kakuy Turay - Demo #01

After that, I spent the following week implementing everything I thought I would need to make the game...

  • Splash screens (press to skip)
  • Main menu
  • Pause menu
  • Cutscenes (hold to skip)
  • Triggers to change levels
Kakuy Turay - Demo #02

Well, this is everything I got so far. Suffice to say I took all the assets from the wired, I might or not replace them in the future. For now, you can check out, play and test the early prototype here... for FREE!

Next steps

What follows? Well, in order to finish the game I'd need to put some gameplay on it, develop the levels, and put together a compelling story. When? Soon™.

If you happen to come across with a bug or just want to leave a suggestion, definitely don't doubt to reach my out. Whether it is by mail, neocities, discord, X or itch.io, I'll be delighted to hear your views on this.

See ya 'round like a donut.