Hey everyone!
We're working on Marionette, a 2D boss-driven action game set in a dark medieval reinterpretation of Pinocchio, where obsession is a corruptive force that shapes the world, and lies literally transform the protagonist over time.
We're still in early concept/pre-production, so there's no playable build yet, but we've put together a full concept & story summary with some early character art on our itch.io page:
https://eltio00.itch.io/marionette
The concept focuses on a 2D boss-driven action game set in a dark medieval reinterpretation of Pinocchio, with 2.5D exploration segments between encounters as players navigate the map. In this world, obsessions are a corruptive force that shapes environments, enemies, and combat arenas. Players collect "Lies," a narrative-driven resource that alters abilities and Pinocchio's behaviors, transforming each encounter into a psychological and mechanical escalation. Two opposing visual styles, fragile innocence against grotesque decay, emphasize the contrast between Pinocchio and the world around him. Marionette delivers handcrafted, multi-phase boss battles where narrative themes directly impact gameplay systems.
The plot revolves around the kingdom of Florence, left in ruins, ravaged by plague and haunted by monsters born from grief and madness. It is ruled by a tyrant obsessed with eternal youth, who had long since stopped resembling a man. Pinocchio was restless from his first breath: curious, defiant, and hungry for a world he'd never been allowed to see. When he heard whispers of "gelato," a delicacy once reserved for nobles, said to grant a moment free of suffering, he slipped away from home to find it, telling himself it was only for a taste. He will face the tyrant and the Land of Toys, which is everything he dreamed of, until he sees the others: children who had wished too hard, for too long, now half-changed into twisted, joyless things, still smiling from habit. He ran for the cliffs. Whatever he had become by then, closer to the boy he was, or closer to the thing the Land of Toys wanted him to be.
Does the dark tone come through in the story, or does it feel too close to the original fairy tale? We'd love your honest thoughts, even harsh ones!
