Bob Games

Bob's Game is a long-standing independent video game project developed by Robert Pelloni since as early as 2003. Initially conceived as a 2D role-playing game for the Nintendo DS, the project was inspired by classics like EarthBound, Zelda, and Pokémon. Pelloni, with no prior experience in programming, art, or music, dedicated over 15,000 hours to its creation. The project gained notoriety for the developer's unconventional methods to attract a publisher, including a protest in 2008 where he locked himself in a room for an extended period to work on the game.

Over the years, the project has evolved significantly. It has been described as both a large-scale action RPG and a highly customizable multiplayer puzzle game platform. The puzzle game component, also called "bob's game," is designed to be a universal puzzle game creator, allowing players to build and share their own puzzle games with custom rulesets. The platform is intended to support local and network multiplayer and is being developed for multiple systems including PC, Mac, Linux, and Android. The source code is also available on GitHub to foster a community tournament platform.

The development journey has been marked by several crowdfunding attempts, including a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2014 for the action-RPG. Despite securing funding, the project has faced numerous delays and shifts in direction. At one point, Pelloni announced plans for a proprietary handheld console called the "nD" to release the game on. The business model appears to be centered on releasing the game for free, with the source code available, though under specific licensing that restricts commercial use by others.

Keywords: indie game, puzzle game creator, role-playing game, multiplayer puzzle game, Robert Pelloni, user-generated content, cross-platform gaming, customizable games, game development, solo developer, open source game, Nintendo DS homebrew, action RPG, 16-bit aesthetic, cult game, crowdfunding, Kickstarter, game engine, Java game, puzzle platform