As someone who actively read “Homestuck” by Andrew Hussie back in the early 2010s, I am beyond excited that Hiveswap: Act 1 made its debut today. This was a huge deal back in 2012 when the Kickstarter campaign had met its goal within 2 days of launching. Set up as a point-and-click adventure game within the comic’s universe, the story follows the journey of siblings Joey Claire and Jude Harley.
Immediately, the player is thrown into a world full of monsters, mystery, and mayhem as Joey and Jude set out to a world that is not unlike the webcomic that inspired its creation. Writing this as someone who not only read the comic ferociously — but also met a lot of the people that I know today through the fandom — this game is not just for people who consider themselves staunch fans. It stands on its own merit for those who are not familiar with the source content.
Filled to the brim with easter eggs and callbacks to the famous webcomic, Hiveswap instills an eerie feeling nostalgia that inspires the spark of creativity that “Homestuck” brought to thousands of its readers. The What Pumpkin Games Team has put a ton of work into making this look and feel what players have been expecting since the Kickstarter was completed.
Whether you are goofing off and exploring to your hearts content, or you decide that sticking to the story is the way to go, Hiveswap wont penalize you for wandering off the beaten path. The player is encouraged to click on every object or even combine them to progress to the next section of the story, making the fun seemingly endless!
If that wasn’t enough, “Homestuck” and What Pumpkin will be partnering with Viz Media to collaborate with for more awesome projects. First, they will be working together to produce printed copies of the webcomic in its entirety through a variety of volumes.
What Viz Media will do now that they are partnered with What Pumpkin studios is up for speculation — but after taking a look at the products they’ve created thus far, the future of the “Homestuck” franchise looks bright.
