Colorful New Indie Title Just Might Light Up Steam, PlayStation 4 This Spring

Independent game studio Fair Play Labs announced their latest side-scrolling adventure game, Color Guardians, will be released on April 14, 2015, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Mac and PC.

From what can be seen in the trailer, the environments, animations and characters appear reminiscent of the most recent entries in the Rayman series – missing appendages on the heroes and all. With dark games like Evolve, Dying Light and The Order: 1886 dominating the first quarter 2015 game release calendar, a bright and spunky indie game like Color Guardians stands out like a sore thumb. Even other critically-acclaimed smaller titles released for the PlayStation 4 in the first quarter, like Hand of Fate, Apotheon and Life Is Strange, boasted dark worlds and themes.

Other than a bright color palette, Color Guardians is looking to provide something different for gamers to play by combining puzzle-game elements with traditional side-scrolling action. Although the game appears simple, the developer promises a challenge in a recent press release.

“Not only must the Guardians jump and dodge incoming hazards and obstacles, they must also switch between three ‘lanes’ of running along the world’s Z-axis… while also swapping their own colors on the fly to match the world around them. Color Guardians brings together simple game mechanics in a unique combination to provide an experience all its own.”

The game heroes are three Guardians named Grock, Lia and Rod. They must work together to bring color back to the universe by defeating the evil color thief, Krogma. Players can look forward to bringing color back throughout more than 70 game stages and at least five boss battles. Collector enthusiasts will have the opportunity to hunt and find hidden unlockables that include art, music and character models. In a similar fashion to LittleBigPlanet, competitive players can challenge their friends to beat their level score and vie for a spot on the online leaderboards. According to the developer, the entire game experience should take about 20-30 hours with an initial playthrough time of between eight to 12 hours.

Will there be trophies? Yes, indeed. Trophy hunters can expect to see a Platinum trophy for this indie game. PlayStation 4 owners who also have a PlayStation Vita will also be able to take advantage of the cross-save feature, which will allow them to save their game progress and pick up where they left off on either platform. Color Guardians will be available to cross-buy on PlayStation platforms, as well.

Color Guardians is the third game developed by Fair Play Labs, who previously made Boss! and Chuck’s Challenge 3D.