A GAME BY
NOLAN ALIGHIERI
A Life-Sim / Metroidvania-lite fusion turnbased JRPG
Exploring with the Town:
Diving into dungeons progresses character stories, and character stories progresses your dungeon delves.
Townsfolk with Rich Character Depth
A focus on short stories with individual characters. Every member of the town is a memorable character!
Easy-yet-Expressive Combat
Combat is designed to be easy to understand but has the flexibility for deeper player expression.
Art Created by Hands, Not Machines
Art and music made by skilled artists without relying on machines that displace creativity.
ABOUT FIDEL
Concept & History
Fidel & The Pauper's Paradox began development in February of 2022.
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The intent was to expand and learn more after the completion of Fidel & The Maker's Trial -- an early demo of the Fidel concept put together in 1 month.
However, Somon and I started working together to bring the characters to life and, as we developed the world more, I decided to expand the scope of the game to be much more than just a learning game.
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The concept of Fidel has always been a fluid marriage of Animal Crossing-esque "slice-of-life" gameplay with Zelda-like dungeon exploration -- perhaps a reflection of my own life as an immigrant who relied on community to make sense of my new life abroad.
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How those 2 concepts have come together has morphed and evolved throughout Fidel's development, but seems to finally have solidified with 2 key philosophies :
1) Always anchor the player to the town. My concept of anchoring makes the town and the residents feel strongly linked to every aspect of the game.
2) Learn from Metroidvania design and exploration flow. This creates natural player curiosity to want to leave the town to see what is beyond.
Story
A philosophical story that questions our perception of joy.
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​The malleable -- plastic -- world overseen by a nameless god simply calling himself "the Pauper" became displeased with the strife of his world. He wrung this plastic world dry of tragedy -- wrung like washcloth. The dirty runoff forming a manic world of concentrated emotions.
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Fidel is cast to this manic world with naive intentions of bringing unconditional happiness to everyone. Through her own strife she comes to understand the complexity of true joy.
Fidel's Difference
Fidel's unique fusion of genres and embracing of philosophical storytelling makes her a unique experience.
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A lot of attention has gone into creating a fluid fusion between the exploration and the social-sim aspects of the game in an effort to not feel disruptive to the gameplay so that the parts don't feel like separate games you walk between, but rather a hybrid with clear intention in its design.
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Combat acts as the glue between exploration and township. Exploration gives Fidel power, and this power is used to fight for the people she wishes to aid.
MEET the TEAM
NOLAN ALIGHIERI
Designer & Sound Guy
Born in Texas in 1992.
I’ve been making music since high school.
In 2017 I moved to Japan and decided to call this place my home.
I like nihonshu (sake) and praying at shrines.
MacIej Bogacki
Programmer Wizard
Born in Poland but immigrated to the UK, Mac is so skilled at programming his skills are nothing short of magic; a true wizard.
He enjoys puzzle games and has a crippling addiction to Factorio.
Ru
Graphic Design & Supporting Illustrator
An aspiring creative aiming to be a full-time freelancer one day! She believes that silly cat videos heal depression!
Also, she just finished re-watching Haikyuu for the 16th time!
Somon
Character Illustrator
Somon was the first member to join the team.
She has been practicing art her whole life and has perfected moe-moe cute art.
She enjoys playing too much Final Fantasy XIV
ItsAJuneBug
Pixel Artist & Animator
June has mastered Pixel art through very unique processes making his art one-of-a-kind (and adequately cute).
June has had some experience in game development, making various game jam games.
Screenshot Gallery
The game is still in early development. Many aspects of the game -- especially visuals -- are subject to change.