MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - April 23rd. Award-winning game developer Summerfall Studios has today launched the Kickstarter campaign for Malys, their new hellish roguelite deckbuilder launching in 2025. The campaign aims to raise AUD 260,000 to secure the funding until the Early Access release, with plans of launching its 1.0 version within six months.
Malys is a twisted roguelite deckbuilder where players embody Noah, a former priest and exorcist turned demon hunter. As Noah, they will roam the streets of a dark, festering city at night, finding those innocents who have become possessed, and exorcising them of their demons. But not all is as it seems, and as the player progresses through the game, they will find out far more about the dark and grey of the world than they might ever want to.
You can watch the Trailer here.“Malys has been a totally new adventure for us, filled with the promise of dark dreams and tantalising terrors, and we can’t wait to share it with players. Doing this Kickstarter campaign will allow us to ensure Malys is that much stronger at launch, and build a community of people to help shape that launch!” says Liam Esler, Managing Director & Co-Founder at Summerfall Studios.
Malys blends unique card mechanics and deckbuilding with an atmospheric overarching story (skippable for deckbuilder diehards), hand-illustrated cards, and the creepy, atmospheric feeling of an exorcism. A horrifying, reactive soundscape increases in intensity increases the course of each exorcism, pulling the player into the experience and making the tension feel very real.
The Kickstarter campaign features a range of rewards, including but not limited to the ability to name a demon after your ex, collaborating with the Summerfall team on exclusive in-game content, a DnD session with Malys’ writer David Gaider (Dragon Age Series, Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical), and more - including, of course, the game itself.
Beyond funding this new project, Summerfall Studios’ goal with this Kickstarter is to build a core community to collaborate with on Malys - giving additional development time and providing a basis to create directly for key players, and emphasizing the connection with them.
For more information, visit the official Kickstarter campaign page or Summerfall Studios’ official website and follow them on Bluesky, TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram.
About Summerfall Studios
Founded in 2018 in Melbourne, Australia, by David Gaider, Liam Esler, and Elie Young, Summerfall Studios is an independent game development company with a focus on making premium narrative-led, character-driven games. The studio’s debut title, Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical, is a multi-award winning and critically acclaimed project, having been nominated for both a Grammy and a BAFTA, featured in the official selection for Tribeca Festival, as well as taking home the top prize at the Australian Game Developer’s Awards - Game of the Year.