Laxidaze is a monster taming action RPG inspired by the classics; set in a cyber-funk future that features real time 3rd person combat (with a tactical mode) and social-sim gameplay. Recruit monsters and super powered bounty hunters in order to rebel against an oppressive government.

At its core, Laxidaze is re-imagined monster taming RPG that captures what made the classics fun while expanding on customization and inclusivity. As a role playing game, Laxidaze features a diverse cast and an expansive character creator in order to better represent the player and create a more immersive experience to a wider audience.

Hey everyone! 

We at Machine Elf Studios are committed to being transparent and honest with our supporters. So if you have any questions, send us a message or join our Discord server and ask us there! 

Laxidaze is set on Earth in the far future where city-states have replaced modern countries. Our story takes place in the region and city-state of Cascadia located on the Pacific Northwest of North America.

Cascadia is governed and controlled by the largest corporation in the region, Nile Corp. Nile Corp is ruled by the seemingly benevolent but ruthless CEO, Mr. Baz and his ruthlessly cute Nanim, Zu.

Although it began as a logistics company, Nile Corp’s largest source of revenue comes from its production and maintenance of Nanobytes, microscopic robots that can perform the functions of organic cells and increase the rate of evolution in any organic/ inorganic matter they infect.

The main character quits a soulless job at Nile Corp, in order to pursue something greater. They become a bounty hunter in the wasteland outskirts of Cascadia in order to fund a life for them and their friends. 

Chaos erupts when the extent of Nile Corp’s abuses are revealed. Our heroes join the resistance against Nile Corp as the façade of their benevolence fades and their atrocities come to light.

Laxidaze will feature real time 3rd person ability based combat. Weapons will each have their own respective abilities/move sets and can be either ranged or melee. Players will have a basic attack that charges their Nano-Meter (ability meter) and the players use these charges to perform various abilities.

Real Time Mode

Engage in real time combat to take down your enemies by using your weapons and abilities.

Panzer Hunter using their “Accelerator” ability

Tactical Mode

Tactical Mode allows you to slow things down and think through your strategy even in the middle of combat. Entering Tactical Mode slows down time within the game and allows you to select your target and your move.

Engineer Class Hunter using Tactical Mode

Summoning

Summon Nanims to aid you in battle by using the Summoning Meter which gradually builds throughout the battle.

Summoning Dragmar

Switching Characters

Throughout the battle, you will be able to switch between your various Squad Mates and Nanims. When you control a different character you will have access to their full move set and combat will function the same.

Abilities

Hunters and Nanims will have access to ability “pools” based on their class and type, and both being able to learn and unlearn moves.

Nano Sync Abilities

These abilities are unique to each hunter and vary in function. 

The Player using their Nano Sync, “Blink” to dodge an enemy

Ultimate Abilities

Every Hunter and Nanim in the game has access to Ultimate Abilities which are powerful moves that can completely change the tide of battle.

Nanomancer using their Ultimate Ability, “Strike Down”

Boss Battle

While bounty hunting, you may come across incredibly powerful and rare Bounty Hunters and Nanims. These will be the hardest battles in the game, so you’ll need to make sure your team is ready by building the toughest hunter team you can.

Equipment

Hunters in Laxidaze will have armor sets and weapons that can be customized depending on your upgrade materials. You will be able to unlock new armors and weapons.

The Player selecting their equipment before a bounty

Rarity Levels

All Hunters, Nanims, armor sets, weapons, etc. will follow this rarity scale:

• Common (White)
• Rare (Blue)
• Epic (Purple)
• Legendary (Orange)
• Mythic (Galaxy FX)

Recruit Nanims and other bounty hunters to grow your team and tackle harder bounties.

Hunter Classes

Every Hunter in Cascadia falls into one of below Hunter Classes, each with their own set of armors, equipment, weapons, and skill trees.

• Protean: The jack-of-all-trades, few exist in the world of Cascadia. This class can use any of the armors, equipment, or weapons from any of the other classes. 
• Nanim Master: “Beast Master” type class, they specialize in befriending and battling with Nanims.

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• Engineer: “Tech” type class, they specialize in technical abilities as well as tech-focused weapons.

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• Nanomancer: “Mage” type class, they focus on dealing elemental damage and excel at large area-of-effect attacks.

• Panzer: “Tank” type class, they will have more defense-focused attributes while also being able to deal massive damage.

• Phantom: “Assassin” type class, they specialize in stealth and high single target damage.

Here’s an example of a skill tree for the Engineer Hunter Class.

Recruit Other Bounty Hunters

In your fight for Cascadia, you will need to expand your Hunter team to tackle harder bounties, help build up your community, and to aid you in freeing Cascadia. 

Basic and Special Types

There will be 6 basic types and 6 special types. The special types are themselves an evolution of the basic types (ice is an evolution of water). Cross types exist and have no restrictions, with a combination of flame and ice being possible.

Recruit Nanims

Nanims are intelligent creatures that can be recruited to your party to aid you in battle, help you explore Cascadia, and aid you in developing your community. Nanims, like Hunters, have a friendship link that can be used to unlock new abilities and to evolve them to their next form.

Use the profits from your bounties to manage and upgrade both your home and the community. Upgrading the community will allow you to access better equipment and unlock new areas. Hunters that have joined your team are available for community missions while they’re not currently part of your party. Community missions passively grant the player extra experience, money, and upgrades.

Use your bounty rewards to upgrade your Home Base!

Use your bounty rewards to help your community!

Bounty Hunting

As an independent Bounty hunter, you’re willing to take on even the oddest of jobs in order to make money and collect rare rewards. Bounties are generally created by the citizens of Cascadia when Nile Corp refuses to provide the help and protection they’ve promised. As such, the bounties will widely range from defeating dangerous Nanims and regional warlords, to exploring new and perilous trade routes, and helping the community grow.

Accept a Bounty from your Home Base!

Before leaving on a bounty mission, select your personal Nanim Summons and select your Hunter Squad Mates.

Select your Squad Mates and Nanims before a bounty!

Once you’re ready, get in the taxi and head on out on your bounty!

On your bounty mission, you may come across helpful locals and maybe some not so helpful…

Engage with the locals of Cascadia during your bounties

Fight against dangerous Nanims throughout your bounty!

Recruit Nanims that you have defeated in battle!

Recruiting and befriending Stalag-Might

Cascadian Hunter League

The Cascadian Hunter League (CHL) officially certifies and ranks Hunters. Access to Bounties largely depends on your Hunter rank, which lets the people of Cascadia know how capable you are. You can increase your Hunter rank passively by completing Bounties but in order to progress to the next rank, you will need to compete in an official CHL tournament against the strongest Hunter in the region.

Join CHL Tournaments and fight against the top Hunters in regional tournaments to increase your Hunter rank.

Explore the urban and wild landscapes of Cascadia and discover its many towns, wacky citizens, and hidden secrets.

As you explore the many wild and dangerous areas of Cascadia, you will need to traverse its environments by climbing, swimming, ziplining, using Nanims, and solving puzzles to unlock new areas.

During your exploration, you will come across various important resources (certain plants, precious metals) that can be harvested and be used in either trade, upgrades, or for your own private farm.

In Laxidaze, our goal is create Nanims that are highly interactable, from bonding to fighting. Outside of battle, you will be able to ride, fly, and even pet Nanims!

Fly throughout the wilds of Cascadia! 

Fly in Laxidaze!

Ride Langskipper to long forgotten places in Cascadia!

Ride on Langskipper!

Ride on various Nanims in Laxidaze!

Ride on all types of Nanims!

Evolutions

Nanims can be evolved once they satisfy whatever requirement that specific Nanim has. Some Nanims only need experience to evolve, while others may require you to increase their friendship link or to complete a specific quest for the Nanim. 

Watch as your Nanim evolves!

Evolution paths vary across Nanims, with some Nanims having multiple evolutions, some having no evolutions, and some even having branching paths in their evolution.

Branching Evolution Path for Boomblast

Trading

There two main ways to trade Nanims and Hunters in Laxidaze, you will have the ability to trade with in-game NPCs, as well as being able to trade with friends through our online trading system.

Chromas (Shiny Nanims)

All Nanims will have color variations, typically based on the region you find them, which are called Chromas. Nanims can have more than one Chroma and each Chroma will have its own rarity level.

Lockle is a Water type!

Lockle and Chroma Lockle

Aeos is a Legendary Nanim with Voltaic and Air Types!

Aeos and Chroma Aeos

Dialogue System

In Laxidaze, there are multiple ways of interacting and speaking with the locals of Cascadia. The level of interaction that you have with each character will depend on the significance of each character.

For Squad Mates, you will have a wide range of interactions – from small, one line pieces of dialogue to fully voiced and animated conversations. Squad Mates will speak and interact with each other on missions, comment on mission objectives, and even engage in ongoing conversations as a third party.

Yuki jumping into an ongoing conversation!

For general interactions with NPCs, conversations will typically relate the NPC’s mood and what they’re thinking about, along with general Cascadia news and quest info.

Talk to the locals!

Squad Mates

In Laxidaze, you will encounter NPCs that you can recruit to your Hunter Team. Each recruitable NPC will have a specific skill that you can utilize to improve your home base and your community, ranging from farming improvements to upgrading your equipment.

NPCs each have a friendship link that you can level up. The main group of Squad Mates will have their own quest line that you will need to progress to level up the friendship, while the secondary group of Squad Mates will level up through various tasks/dialogue options that the player receives. As you level up your friendship link with your Squad Mates, several changes will occur: you will gain the option to hangout with them, you will be able to romance them, and the Squad Mate will unlock new abilities, passives, and equipment (this will result in visual changes as well).

Use the in game texting system to find out about upcoming Bounty missions and social hangouts!

Text your Squad Mates about bounties and hangouts!

Hangout with your Squad Mates to build your friendship links!

Relax by the bar after a long day!

Relax by the bar

Relax with your friends and have fun!

Have a dance party with your friends!

Dance with your friends!

Nanims

Since Nanims are recruitable Squad Mates, they also have friendship links that can be leveled up throughout the game. While all Nanims benefit from increasing their friendship links, some are able to evolve if their friendship link is high enough. 

Pet Luna!

Pet Fuegon

Pet Kapoki!

Laxidaze will feature Co-Op and multiplayer modes similar to other monster taming games.

PvE multiplayer Base Game

While in game, you will be able to join and fight alongside your friends while they’re out doing a bounty in Laxidaze’s Co-Op “dungeons”.

Co-Op Dungeon in Laxidaze!

Future State

While Co-Op dungeons are in the base game, Player vs Player (PvP) multiplayer modes will make it to Laxidaze by either reaching our stretch goal or through future updates as we’re committed to bringing multiplayer to Laxidaze.

Inspired by other RPGs, Laxidaze will feature a Calendar System that will control the day & night system and the flow of events. The Calendar System will affect things such as Nanim encounters, availability of missions, and random social encounters (hanging out or romancing squad mates).

In addition to riding Nanims, you will be able to use a collection of vehicles, such as a hoverboard.

Laxidaze will be composed by ZW Buckley. The soundtrack will be heavily influenced by acid jazz, lo-fi hip hop, and jazz. Check out Laxidaze’s main theme, Summer Nights by ZW Buckley!

Add Ons: Digital OST $15 | Extra Game Key $30

Legendary Nanim Egg $75 | Legendary Chromatic Nanim Egg $100 

All tiers include rewards from the previous tiers!

• Pledge $15 or more
  • Digital Soundtrack!
    • Jam out to the game’s music by getting a digital copy of the game’s soundtrack!
• Pledge $30 or more
  • Buy the Game!
    • Become a Hunter in Laxidaze! You’ll get a digital copy of Laxidaze and your name in  in-game credits! You’ll also get a “Squad Mate” Discord Title!
• Pledge $45 or more
  • Beta Access!
    • Get access to the game’s beta ahead of the game’s full release!
• Pledge $55 or more
  • Alpha Access!
    • Be the first to play Laxidaze by getting access to the Alpha!
• Pledge $150 or more
  • Legendary Nanim Egg!
    • Receive a Legendary Nanim egg at the start of the game that will spawn a Legendary Nanim! You’ll also get a “B Rank Hunter” Discord Title!
• Pledge $200 or more
  • Legendary Chromatic Nanim Egg!
    • Start the game with a Legendary Chromatic Nanim Egg! Legendary Chromatics are Nanims that are born with a mutated chroma gene that alters their appearance in a special way, only 1 in 6,000 have this mutation. You’ll also get an “A Rank Hunter” Discord Title!

Example of a Legendary Nanim, Aeos, and a Chromatic variant

• Pledge $500 or more
  • Design an NPC!
    • Immortalize yourself in Laxidaze as an NPC, you get to design an NPC, their outfit, and dialogue! You’ll also get an “S* Rank Hunter” Discord Title!
• Pledge $1,000 or more
  • Design a Legendary Armor Set and Quest!
    • Work with the Dev team to design a quest and the reward at the end of the quest, a Legendary armor set! You’ll also get a “Legendary Rank Hunter” Discord Title!
• Pledge $2,500 or more
  • Design a Legendary Hunter!
    • Work with the Dev Team to design a Legendary Hunter in Laxidaze! You will get to design the Hunter’s appearance, armor, weapon, Nano-Sync ability, and the bounty mission where you recruit the Hunter! You will also receive the “Legendary Rank Hunter” Discord Title!
• Pledge $5,000 or more
  • Design a Legendary Nanim!
    • Work with the Dev Team to design a Legendary Nanim and their abilities! This will include designing the bounty mission where you recruit them! You will receive the “Legendary Rank Hunter” Discord Title!
• Pledge $7,000 or more
  • Design a Legendary Hunter and Nanim!
    • Work with the Dev Team to design a recruitable Legendary Hunter and Nanim duo in Laxidaze! This will include designing the bounty mission where you recruit them! You will receive the “Legendary Rank Hunter” Discord Title!
• Pledge $9,500 or more
  • Design a Dungeon
    • Work with the Dev Team to design a dungeon in Laxidaze! This will include designing the bounty mission where you find and explore the dungeons! You will get to design the Legendary Hunter and Nanim involved in this dungeon! You will receive the “Legendary Rank Hunter” Discord Title!

We want everyone to be able to play Laxidaze and it has been our intention from the beginning to bring Laxidaze to consoles. As such, we will bring Laxidaze to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and the Switch!

We plan on bringing Laxidaze to as many communities as possible, which includes English and Spanish to start and will expand as we get more funding.

We are Andrew and Michael, we’ve been best friends since grade school and bonded over a mutual love for video games. Whenever we played a game, we talked about what we liked and what we would change. We’re two Hispanics, who were born to immigrant parents. We grew up in the multi-ethnic culture of Miami, Florida; where flare, vibrant colors, and Latin music dominate and have become the defined social representation. 

We are trying to bring that look and feel into a largely homogenous gaming industry, we also wanted to showcase our love and appreciation for the games that have inspired us like Pokémon, Persona, and Monster Hunter. As a role playing game, having a diverse cast and an expansive character creator is important to us in order to better represent the player and create a more immersive experience to a wider audience.

We’re a small studio that is self funded and video games are expensive so in order to bring this to life, we need the help of our supporters. As we are software developers by trade, we’ve spent the last year developing the game’s core mechanics and systems and due to our lack of funding have been limited to small amounts of our own assets and we have had to rely on freelance work, as well as store bought assets. We’ve realized that in order to bring the art style and art direction that we want to life, we will need a dedicated art team with a bigger budget.

We are committed to being transparent with our amazing supporters and will keep everyone updated on our progress every step of the way. We hope to have a successful Kickstarter so we can continue making the best game we can. Please feel free to message us any questions or concerns you have and we will answer them as best as we can! 

• Website
• Discord
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Press Kit
• Linktr.ee

The primary challenge is bringing an ambitious game to life with a small team. The scope of the game will expand as we secure more funding, and this isn’t limited to what we raise in the Kickstarter. We intend to continue adding to and updating the game even after release to bring some of the later stretch goals into the game. We are fully committed to Laxidaze and hope to bring it to life with the help of the community and you.