Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams is a platform game developed by Black Forest Games for Microsoft Windows. It is the successor to the 1987 Commodore 64 title The Great Giana Sisters and sequel to the 2009 re-imagining Giana Sisters DS. The game was funded through crowdfunding website Kickstarter, reaching its goal of $150,000.
In addition to the Windows release, a console port has been released on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and Nintendo eShop download service for Wii U. Mac and Linux support were promised after the release of Humble Indie Bundle 11 in February 2014, but has yet to be released. HandyGames, a THQ Nordic subsidiary released the game on Nintendo Switch.
Plot
Maria is abducted to the Dream World, where the wicked dragon Gurglewocky holds her prisoner. It is up to her sister, Giana, who has become a teenager in the time since the last entry in the series, to enter the Dream World and rescue her. Because she is in a stage of her life that is all about transformation, she has learned how to manipulate her dreams. She must use this newly developed ability to jump between dreams and transform herself into a "Cute" and "Punk" persona in order to deal with her inner conflict and fear while she searches for her sister. As in the past, Giana can pick up crystals for points and discover secrets.
Development
After the development of Giana Sisters DS in 2009, Spellbound Entertainment went bankrupt and Armin Gessert died. Soon after the dissolution of the company, Black Forest Games was founded by the key members and management from Spellbound. The newly established game developer decided to move on their own and took over all Spellbound assets, including the intellectual property. In total, 40 of the former Spellbound team of 65 members followed and became part of Black Forest Games. While Black Forest Games was formed to develop action role playing and strategy games for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, their foremost desire was to develop an all new Giana Sisters title.
Beginning production in early 2011, Black Forest Games was initially shopping the game around to various publishers, the conditions put on developer in order for the game to see a release was deemed unfavorable, and required a lot of content to be cut. The newly assembled team was eager to break away from the public perception that the franchise is only known as copy-cat of Super Mario Bros., and sought to change it by creating a unique modern platforming game with high production values and original game mechanics. One of the most important aspects of the very first Giana Sisters was the ability to transform into a "punk" variation by picking up the ball item, and this became the basis for Project Giana.
Building on the concept of Giana's own transformation, the team began to draw a concept for Giana to have the ability to change the world around her in addition to herself. and several prototypes were made to test the trans-morphing of the environment, enemies and Giana's own abilities. The concept was deemed a success, and Black Forest Games began to focus the game to make use of a seamless transformation system which is controlled by the player itself. The engine was built up entirely in-house in order to provide a seamless player controlled switch affecting the entire landscape, as well as the in-game audio which has two distinctly different sounds depending on which dream world is being played.
Giana herself was given two personas, a "cute" Giana and "punk" Giana. Cute Giana has the ability to twirl and glide through the air in order to travel great distances and avoid danger, signifying her composure and grace. Cute Giana inhabits the Nightmare world. Punk Giana can go make use of an aggressive dash attack which enables her to attack enemies and bounce off them or walls to reach new locations. Giana's punk persona inhabits the regular dream world. At any time, the player can switch between the two personas to make use of their abilities, which in turn will also switch the dream layout accordingly.
While the Nintendo DS title used a very stylized art design based on the artwork of German illustration artist Alex "Pikomi" Pierschel, a strictly 2D based game was deemed unfavorable with the switch mechanic, and therefore required a more modern, 3D modeled design. The game plays on a 2D plane with 3D models and objects.
Despite being relatively far into development, the company contemplated shelving the game indefinitely in order to fund the game themselves through assembled profit from other future game releases. However, due to the success of Kickstarter in the spring of 2012, the company decided revive the project and assist development by crowdfunding, setting the goal amount at $150,000. The Kickstarter campaign was launched on July 30, 2012.
Along with the fundraiser, eventual XBLA and PSN support was announced. The game's stretch goals mentioned that Project Giana would see a basic 16 level release at $150,000, and a full version 20 level release at $200,000. In the event of the fundraiser going beyond the set goal, OUYA support was also mentioned at $300,000.
A playable demo was offered to the press on August 20, 2012. The demo contained a playable level showcasing the game's unique features. A public demo followed shortly after and was released on the Kickstarter page.
