The Deer God
A deer's journey through purgatory in a procedurally generated world.
The Deer God is a platform game developed by Crescent Moon Games and published by Mobot Studios on Wii U and Level 77 on Nintendo Switch. It was released for the PlayStation Vita on April 25, 2017. The game follows a hunter who, after being killed by wolves, is reincarnated as a deer by a female deer deity and must atone by experiencing life as a deer.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Crescent Moon Games
- Publisher
- Crescent Moon Games
- Mobot Studios
- Level 77
- Designer
- Josh Presseisen
- Programmer
- Kyle McKeever
- Artist
- Josh Presseisen, Luke Viljoen
- Composer
- Evan Gipson
- Platforms
- Linux
- OS X
- Windows
- Xbox One
- Android
- iOS
- Wii U
- PlayStation 4
- PlayStation Vita
- Nintendo Switch
- Genre
- Platform
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The player begins reincarnated as a deer and must retrieve relics while fending off predators such as bears, cougars, or alligators. A moral alignment system grants good karma for defeating predators and negative karma for harming harmless creatures or dying onscreen. The overworld is procedurally generated at the start of a run, with enemy placement changing after each death. Two difficulty settings exist: hardcore mode, where a set number of lives leads to game over, and normal mode, where running out of lives respawns the player as a weak fawn. Good karma unlocks new abilities, while excess negative karma may cause the player to spawn as a weak creature unable to progress until death and reincarnation as a deer. A hunger mechanic requires the player to eat or health will drain.
Reception
Shaun Musgrave of TouchArcade gave a mixed review to the iOS version, describing the game as beautiful and zen-like at times but also clumsy, ugly, and lacking gracefulness. He found the premise clever and the bosses a real challenge, but was annoyed by bugs, though noted updates attempted to remove them. He called the controls awkward and criticized the karma system as an unnecessary annoyance, and the hunger mechanic as vestigial. Marsh Davies of Rock Paper Shotgun criticized the permadeath mechanic as unjust and said the save system worked poorly, as reincarnating as a baby deer weakened the player and defeated the purpose of saving. He called the game hamstrung by its non-progression system and duff beast-on-beast combat, though he noted lovely incidental details. GamesTM magazine rated the game negatively, calling its visuals and music stunning but otherwise a mess with an unclear message and a failed experiment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What platforms is The Deer God available on?
The Deer God was released for Linux, OS X, Windows, Xbox One, Android, iOS, Wii U, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita and Nintendo Switch.
Who designed The Deer God?
The Deer God was designed by Josh Presseisen.
Who composed the music for The Deer God?
The music for The Deer God was composed by Evan Gipson.
Is The Deer God single-player or multiplayer?
The Deer God offers single-player play.
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