Tales of Monsterland DX

A village besieged by monsters, a mysterious tower and a broken rope bridge.

Save the village by uncovering the origin of these creatures.
Run, jump and battle your way through a strange land,
gaining powerful abilities to help you in your quest.
It’s non-stop action all the way to the end and then maybe,
you can find your way home.

DEMO COMING SOON!

TALES OF MONSTERLAND DX is a new title for the Gameboy that hearkens back to a golden age of platforming adventures.

Explore an interconnected world, discovering hidden items and areas.‍

Design to run on original hardware, this handheld game really shines on Gameboy Colorhandheld systems and above. Tales of Monsterland is love letter to the classic platform games of the 8-bit era.

• Full colour!
• Play on Gameboy Color compatible devices
• Four magical forms to unlock
• Unlockable classic Gameboy DMG & Pocket palettes!
• Find the hidden world!
• Original, all new chip tune soundtrack by Incognito
• Suitable for all ages
• Featuring battery-less saving!

Playing the game

Designed to be played on original hardware, download the .gbc ROM and give it a try (or play in the browser window).

Controls

A (x) – Jump, dialogue proceed
B (z) – Attack, interact
Up – Interact with item, go in door, sign etc
Back – Dash back (child)
Shift (select) – Inventory / change form
Enter (start) – Menu, save, load, check game status

Click game in browser window before starting.

Tips

• Talk to everyone in the village
• Save often
• Some areas you'll need to go back to when you've gained an ability
• Check your status to see what's left to collect

‍

Background

My first Gameboy game, created in the lockdown of 2021, inspired by 8-bit games such as Kirby and Wonderboy.  I've had the opportunity to revisit it in 2024, rebuilding almost from scratch in the latest tooling (GBS v3.2 from v2.5) which allowing me to improved it, including –

• New original chip tune OST of around 14 tracks by Incognito
• Additional connecting scenes, update tiles and environment effects
• More and bigger monsters! (it is Monsterland after all)
• New coin placements, new collectable 'pages'
• Unlockable classic views/palettes (Gameboy DMG green, Gameboy Pocket B&W)
• More animations, jump state, new walk cycles etc
• Improved sound effects
• Moving platforms & proper slopes/diagonals
• Extra save game (battery less) slots
• Bug fixes, tweaks and balancing

Credits

Development, graphics, story, design, manual and packaging.
— Joel Jarman

Audio‍

Original soundtrack by June Wilson / Incognitio
SFX by Coffee ‘Valen’ Bat

Playtesting and feedback

‍— Chris Beach, Matt Winston, Eric Mack, Mr.Blinky, 2BitCrook, Obscure Games and Consoles

Typefaces

‍Orthodox Herbertarian by MEP
Original Polaris font by DamienG (https://damieng.com/)

Special thanks to

‍Chris Maltby, Pau Tomas for GB Studio and plugins, Hauntology, Rulz, Bryan Rollins, GB Central and all the rest of the GB Studio community.