Niko and the Cubic Curse - Jaxx's Quest Tech Demo

Niko and the Cubic Curse - Jaxx's Quest is a cancelled sequel/spin off/DLC for Niko and the Cubic Curse. This game would have been focused on telling more of Jaxx's story that was cut from the final game. The gameplay would have been more metroidvania styled than the base game.

This demo is very short, and should only take a few minutes to see all of the content that was developed. Once you hit a checkered wall, that is where the level ends. Also some mechanics were never implemented. (Enemies don't deal damage, and jumping off the edge does not respawn the player. Only fix is restarting the level.)

FAQ

When did the project begin development?

This game entered development shortly after the release of Niko and the Cubic Curse in September 2021. This was originally taking cut gameplay mechanics from Niko and adding it together to work as a metroidvania. I was always quite happy with the result I got while working on this project, and decided it was a good opportunity to tell a cut story from the base game.

How long was the project in development for?

Maybe a month. I returned to the project for a short period in early 2022, but quickly decided to leave the project as is.

Why was it cancelled?

A lot of reasons. The biggest one was simply because I wanted to make RPGs instead of platformers. This was only one of the projects I was working on at the time, and I opted to cancel this project to focus effort into other projects I liked more. Another reason was the poor sales of Niko. I did not feel like a DLC expansion for Niko was something people wanted, which lead to the idea of possibly releasing this as sequel/spin off. After putting more thought into it, I decided that I wanted to instead put my passion into a new project that people might like more. There was a period of time that I considered returning to make the DLC when Niko was being brought to Nintendo Switch, but I once again decided my time was better spent developing something new.

Why release now?

For a while, I thought there was a chance I would return to the project. However, two years later, I am deep into developing a very large scaled game. I do not see myself returning to this DLC, so I decided it would be fun to at least release the tech demo online for archival purposes.

Is there any chance this project gets un-cancelled?

Maybe a 2% chance. I think I would like to make a metroidvania one day, but if I do, it would likely not be related to Niko and the Cubic Curse. 

Was there any other cancelled Niko projects?

Yes (kinda). I was planning for Niko to get a free co-op update on all platforms. Long story short, I found the multiplayer to not be very fun, so the update never got finished.

Are there any future plans for Niko?

Currently, no, but I have had an idea in the back of my head for a while. Niko was my first real game. It has a lot of issues that bother me a lot looking back at the project. The final game is quite different from my original plan for the game, and I wish more of my original ideas made it to the final game, both in terms of gameplay and story. With where my development skills have come in the last 2 years, I think I could now make the game I initially envisioned. If I return to Niko, it would be to remake Cubic Curse into the game I wanted it to be. However, I am still not convinced Niko has a market that would make a remake worth it. Also, work on the new game is taking up all of my free time as it is. But maybe one day, I will return to the idea of a remake.