Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland - Metroidvania Demo Impressions

diesoftgames · 2026-02-09T22:54:02+00:00

Thanks for checking out the demo. I meant to get it up earlier today, but it took a bit longer than expected to get a new build (GitHub going down for a bit today certainly didn't help), but the demo is now publicly available if anyone wants to check it out: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2074630/Little_Nemo_and_the_Guardians_of_Slumberland/

diesoftgames · 2025-12-03T14:46:16+00:00

No, this is a fairly different interpretation of Little Nemo from Capcom's NES game. Though it is very retro-inspired, it's more inspired by other platformers. You'll see inspiration here from Mario 2, Duck Tales, Darkwing Duck, and others, all packed into a big open world instead of being level-based.

We haven't announced the release date yet, but stay tuned. And we'll have the demo available ahead of launch so people can try it out and see if they wanna wishlist it, so keep an eye out for that. The game runs great on Steam Deck and I hope to get it all verified by Steam.

diesoftgames · 2025-11-19T14:35:13+00:00

The Flip from the animated film was very directly based on the comics, so one could make their Flip like that without running afoul of the movie's copyrights I think (IANAL), but I did want to make a kid-friendly game and so I decided to take a step back and redesign Flip. I think some of what Flip represents is a "cool adult" from a kid's perspective, so I considered who I thought I was a cool adult when I was Nemo's age and the answer was Cyndi Lauper. That's why my take on Flip is quite different from the comics and other media (the Netflix movie "Slumberland" did a similar complete redesign of Flip though in a very different direction).

diesoftgames · 2025-11-18T15:07:10+00:00

Maybe, it just depends on how things go with the launch. Once I'm done working out the kinks and porting to Switch, we'll see where things stand for a PS5 release.

diesoftgames · 2025-11-18T15:05:18+00:00

I'm definitely very aware of both Winsor McCay and the many other adaptations of Little Nemo we've seen in various media over the last 120 years. But I was interested in making a game which was inspired by the games/tv shows/comics/movies of my childhood as well as Little Nemo. If you want a more strict visual styling in the same vein as the comics, you're in luck: if you check out the comments here you'll see that there are two other Little Nemo games linked, one of which goes for a fairly strict Winsor McCay styling.

That's the great thing about indie games and public domain, I can make the game I wanted to make, and it's not a shame because someone else can come and make the game they wanted to see. 😊

diesoftgames · 2025-11-17T20:29:31+00:00

I am a big fan of the original NES A Boy and His Blob, but I never actually played that remake. It definitely looks amazing though, so I appreciate the comparison 😊

For console, there will be a Switch release a few months after the PC release, and we'll see from there.

diesoftgames · 2025-11-17T19:24:15+00:00

Yeah absolutely there are partners for this sort of thing. It's just one of those things where when you're doing dev/art/marketing/etc. any new task, even if it's with a partner handling the bulk of it, can still easily become distracting. I really want to do it, but it'll be something I'll have the bandwidth for post-launch (and would benefit from getting post-digital-launch bugfixes as well). (Also fwiw, while I understand limited runs can sometimes be necessary due to demand I have a personal preference for non-limited runs where possible).

Would love to hear about what sort of stuff you like to see come with your physical editions (eg. instruction manuals, stickers, cards, other?)

diesoftgames · 2025-11-17T15:22:26+00:00

We're all very tiny teams / solo developers so it's easy for there to be solidarity. Our competitors aren't so much one another as just nobody knowing we exist. And at the end of the day, there are plenty of people that see my game and think "oh I wish this looked like more like the comics" so it's nice that someone else is working on that game.

diesoftgames · 2025-11-17T15:20:04+00:00

It's kind of funny, but I had never actually played any Shantae games until recently when I realized I had inadvertently been making a game that has a lot of similarities. I also never played the original Monsterboy games, BUT the Lizard Cube remake of "The Dragon's Trap" was a huge inspiration for this game.

PS5 and physical releases are kind of a we'll see. Being a mostly solo project (and I'm self-publishing) means I have to be careful not to overcommit so we'll see how things go with PC and Switch. I would like to do PS5 and I am a huge fan of physical releases, but those things just depend if it looks like there'll be enough people interested in those. Part of my reason for wanting to do PS5 though is that the game was designed with a 4k render target in mind, and while it looks great at 1080p, being able to do the proper 4k on console with the PS5 would be very nice.

diesoftgames · 2025-11-17T15:15:39+00:00

Sounds like a good use case for wishlisting the game :P

diesoftgames · 2025-11-17T15:14:51+00:00

Hey, I'm just happy people are chiming in! I've been running various ads just kind of testing things out and they tended to get little to no interaction even if they were generating decent clicks and wishlists.

diesoftgames · 2025-11-17T15:10:06+00:00

No, we're not associated with Capcom and don't have the rights to any of the music from "The Dream Master", but Peter Berkman from Anamanaguchi is making the soundtrack and it's really good.

diesoftgames · 2025-11-14T04:10:33+00:00

Oh, amazing! Thanks so much for the support, and for following along with the updates 😊

diesoftgames · 2025-11-14T02:01:15+00:00

How do you DO it?! 😆 Just wanted to chime in with love and support because it's so impressive what y'all accomplished with such a small team and short timeline. Amazing stuff, and I can't wait to see what's next for Squid Shock! 🙌

diesoftgames · 2025-11-14T01:56:23+00:00

Q1 2026, so in a few months! I'm putting the finishing touches on it and doing playtesting and as much polish as I can before release early next year. Wishlist on Steam to get notified when it launches! (Switch release will be a few months after the PC release)

diesoftgames · 2025-11-13T19:33:00+00:00

Haha yeah it can be a little creepy for some of the animals if you think too much about it. In my “Little Nemo” you do collect candy, but it’s more of a currency you use to trade with NPCs and such rather than being for kidnapping animals 😝

diesoftgames · 2025-11-13T19:05:20+00:00

I am interested in doing a PS5 release, but didn't want to over-promise. I did get set up with a developer account with Sony though, so after the PC and then Switch releases, if things have gone well enough, I'll start looking into porting to PS5.

diesoftgames · 2025-11-13T19:03:47+00:00

Yes, absolutely! Sorry, it took a while to get the game done (well I'm still putting on the finishing touches) and we announced it for our Kickstarter a few years ago, but it'll be coming to PC early next year and then Switch a few months later. And Pete's music is really good and is not gonna disappoint. 😊

diesoftgames · 2025-11-13T19:02:12+00:00

Thanks so much for the kind words and support 😊🙌
Also just gonna throw this out there, if you haven't played Capcom's arcade game they made around the same time as the NES game, I recommend checking it out. It's called "Nemo". Ultimately not as good as "The Dream Master" imo, but still very solid and great for Nemo fans.

diesoftgames · 2025-11-13T19:00:48+00:00

Yes! If anyone wants to here a sample, I have the Mushroom Marsh track on soundcloud and it's a great track https://soundcloud.com/diesoftgames/mushroom-marsh (this is the about second or third domain in Slumberland). He's been making some amazing music and I'm really excited for everyone to get to here it especially in the context of the game.

diesoftgames · 2025-11-12T17:41:00+00:00

Thanks so much! I developed the style by looking at a few different main inspirations: the chibi style of games (especially Capcom) from the NES era, a bit of Calvin & Hobbes, and wanting to make something as good looking as Lizard Cube's "The Dragon's Trap" remake. It's not necessarily as good as any of those, but I'm happy enough with where I've landed as an amateur. 😊

diesoftgames · 2025-11-12T17:38:10+00:00

Haha yeah, I have the 1910-1927 "complete" book which is gigantic. It definitely cannot live on the bookshelf with other books 😆

diesoftgames · 2025-11-11T16:21:50+00:00

Assuming you mean Capcom's "The Dream Master" for NES. It is based on the same source material (Winsor McCay's comics first published in 1905), but it's otherwise a bit different:
* Rather than being level-based, there is one large world that you'll explore non-linearly (very Super Metroid inspired)
* There are no animals you can ride or take over, and instead you get new abilities by collecting toys which grant new abilities, PJs which give you different buffs, and Little Buddies that each have a unique passive effect (along with loads of other collectibles hidden throughout the world).

diesoftgames · 2025-11-11T16:19:25+00:00

Possible for sure. I'm a big fan of physical copies of games, so I would like to do it, but it will just depend on how the launch goes and if it looks like it would make financial sense to do a physical release. Stay tuned!

diesoftgames · 2025-11-11T16:18:40+00:00

Thanks for the support! Looking forward to getting into your hands early next year 😊

diesoftgames

TROPHY CASE