‘Rolus in the Outskirts’ Combines ‘Zelda’-Esque Exploration and Gameplay With Early 2000s Flash Cartoons, and It’s on Kickstarter Now

What would you do for a Dollar Menu cheeseburger? Would you go mow lawns? Or would you prefer to dig through the couch cushions, hoping that you’d find a few quarters hiding inside? Well, if you’re Rolus from Rolus in the Outskirts, you’d decide it’s time to go dumpster diving. But everything that could go wrong does, and you’re now on an adventure that takes inspiration from Zelda, South Park, and early 2000s flash animations. Any game with a weird little guy in the lead is one already after my heart. With a Kickstarter Campaign running now, be wise and get in before Rolus becomes the next big indie game icon. You can totally tell your friends you knew about Rolus before it was cool.

‘Rolus in the Outskirts’ Has That Hyper-Specific Type of Humor I Just Can’t Get Enough Of

Growing up in the era of Newgrounds Animation, Rolus in the Outskirts immediately spoke to me. Sure, Rolus may be more of a punk than a saint, but he has the best intentions. Plus, a dude’s gotta eat when they’re hungry, right? Rather than doing the right thing, Rolus just wants to hang out with his friends and score some free food from the local dumpsters. This is where he meets Chris, the Crystal Baby. Everything else that happens after here? It’s all part of the plan, baby.

I don’t know about you, but this whole premise sounds just weird enough for me to be fully invested in it. Rolus in the Outskirts looks like it’s going to be a hilarious adventure. There’s a demo available on Steam if you want to try before you back it. It features the full first chapter, which takes roughly an hour to beat. But, you do get to beat the crap out of Junkies and ducks, so that makes it worth a download in itself. One part that stood out to me more than most other games is the soundtrack. Composed by PostElvis of Pizza Tower fame, that was more than enough for me to be sold on this one.

Hand-drawn animation in video games has to be one of my favorite things, and Rolus in the Outskirts is totally gorgeous. It’s nostalgic, yet also feels brand new. Reminiscent of old OneyNG, Egoraptor, and RubberRoss cartoons, Rolus in the Outskirts has a chokehold on me that I don’t know if I can escape from.