Will Winn Games has announced that its swashbuckling 12-player frantic action-arcade game Plunder Panic will release on Nintendo Switch.
Taking inspiration from classic SNES games, rival pirate crews will be challenged to battle for supremacy on the high seas. The experience “blends retro graphics, arcadey action, and a boatload of online (and offline) gameplay modes and options to shiver even the most hardened pirates’ timbers.”
Within quick round-based matches, two teams of up to six players must face off against each other – using weapons, enchanted items and power-ups to seize the upper hand.
Each round starts with the rival teams anchoring their ships on the same island, with victory within your grasp if the other team loses too much of their gold, their ship gets scuttled or if their captain takes an early trip to Davy Jones’ locker.
The developer has broken down Plunder Panic’s key features as below:
- Pirate Panic: Fast-paced action-arcade gameplay with elements of platforming, combat, and strategic play
- Multiplayer Mode Madness: Supporting local and online play with up to 12-players (including AI), Plunder Panic features several exciting game modes: Free Play, Tournament, Conquest, Ranked and Unranked, and Captain vs. Captain 1v1. Players can invite friends to private lobbies and also go into Matchmaking.
- Claim Victory: Multiple win conditions offer pirate crews different gameplay strategies. Teams can coordinate to either collect enough gold, sink an enemy ship with cannons or a rowboat of TNT, or defeat the enemy captain.
- Modify-arrs: Matches can be customized with up to six modifiers at once which change up the game rules dramatically. Randomized Captains per round? No captains at all? What about all pirates having a pair of never-ending Seagull Wings? Anything and everything can happen!
- Items Galore: Chaotic items that can be wielded by players can drop into a match at any time. From weapons such as the Blunderbuss, Molotov cocktails, and dynamite to stat-boosting rum barrels and enchanted idols; even squid can be used as weapons (the Kraken doesn’t take kindly to this, though).
- Pretty Pixels: A charming retro pixel-art aesthetic by lead artist Andrew Bonczyk (currently with Bungie and formerly Insomniac Games)
“Following several successful showings at various trade shows over the last couple of years, it’s a dream come true to turn the Plunder Panic prototype into a full-fledged multi-platform game,” explains Will Winn Games co-founder and MSU alumni Will Jeffery. “While commercializing Plunder Panic is an important milestone for Will Winn Games, it is just the first step. We have a robust plan to grow a vibrant, profitable game studio in the mid-Michigan area, offering on-the-job, real-world, industry experience for students and employment opportunities for alumni.”
Will Winn Games co-founder and MSU professor Brian Winn adds: “MSU and Spartan Innovations has been an essential partner in the development of Plunder Panic and launch of Will Winn Games. Plunder Panic was developed by an excellent team of talented student employees from MSU’s Games for Entertainment and Learning (GEL) Lab. We’re collectively so incredibly excited to bring Plunder Panic to the masses starting with the Steam release in September.”
Plunder Panic will release on the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo Switch worldwide in early 2022.
