If recently Kickstarted game Aviary Attorney can say anything about the state of the games industry, it is that sometimes history can lend a lot more to a project than simple inspiration. For game developers Jeremy Noghani (Designer, programmer, and writer) and Mandy Lennon, (Artist, animator, and writer) looking through old books helped them stumble upon some magnificent and little known art, that they decided to appropriate and design a game around.
Aviary Attorney is a mystery solving, clue based, and narrative driven game set in Paris in the year 1848. The cast are all animal caricatures drawn by 19th century French caricaturist J.J. Grandville with added character and scenery animations given life by Lennon. Players investigate a series of cases as defense-attorney Jayjay Falcon and his charismatic assistant Sparrowson. Wealthy aristo(cat) Caterline Demiaou has been accused of murder most foul and has turned to the Aviary Attorney offices seeking an attorney who can cement a verdict of Not-Guilty. Plenty of obstacles and shadowy correspondences are sure to keep JayJay Falcon and co. busy as ace Prosecutor, and rooster, Severin Cocorico tries to tighten up his case against Demiaou.
While humorous in nature due to the wonderful caricature art, Aviary Attorney promises a series of engaging stories where mistakes can mean the difference between freedom and imprisonment, or at worst, life and death. Already successfully funded on Kickstarter, Noghani and Lennon have utilized virtually everything that J.J. Grandville had to offer even utilizing the 100 year old font found in his old books. In addition, they also plan on using a series of musical compositions from famed 19th century French composer Camille Saint-Saens, best known for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, and Samson and Delilah.
While much of the project is being pulled from existing work and historical figures, Noghani and Lennon seem determined to ensure that Aviary Attorney does justice to their influential source materials. At the very least it seems that if the local library wasn’t on your list of potential research spots for your next game project, it should be considered.
