A solo developer loves video games, but has a color vision deficiency. That doesn’t stop him from developing his own title with unique colors. Many other players find the visuals appealing.
What kind of game is this? The title of the game already reveals what it’s about. In Necrowave, you play as a zombie stuck in a microwave. His emotional journey is represented as a Metroidvania adventure.
- There are exciting boss fights with a crunchy difficulty level.
- In the game, you encounter several characters who tell their own stories and are just as much trapped beings as you are.
- Despite the morbid setting, the title incorporates dark humor and its quirky atmosphere.
The developer Arfhis relies on body horror. For instance, one enemy rips off its head and uses it as a scythe, while another dances on a pole and tears off its torso.
There is currently no playable version on Steam, at least not in Germany. Here, you only have the option to invest in the title on the Patreon page. Then you can test the mentioned boss fight. There is some gameplay available for example on the YouTube channel of aWalkThroughLife, but also on other channels:
In the meantime, the solo developer has hired a 2D animator who is taking care of the game’s visuals. The animator uses only special colors, which explains the game’s unique look.
Unique look comes from color vision deficiency
What is special about it? The developer Arfhis, who presents his game on X, is colorblind. He explains that he uses only colors that he personally finds beautiful for the game. In the comments about the game, he writes, for instance, that he often hears that the red in his games stands out – but he himself cannot perceive that.
Other comments also note that although they are not colorblind, they still find the game visually appealing. User Lana Bear summarizes it well on X, stating that the game looks “hellishly good”.
Another Metroidvania can be seen here in the trailer:
Many users also discuss color filters that allow people with a typical color spectrum to see the world as Arfhis sees it. Red is said to appear more yellow to him, which would also explain why he does not perceive the vibrant red the same way others do.
Color blindness is not only present among developers but also among players and streamers. The Twitch streamer Cody Schwab also cannot perceive the complete color spectrum. With special glasses, he saw for the first time how his favorite title looks to most others: Colorblind streamer sees for the first time how his game really looks
