Demo

Installation

For non-Steam users who wish to download the demo directly, there’s no installation process to run the demo. Just download the zip file from the google drive link, extract it, and run the Nixie.exe file. NOTE: Windows may show an alert when trying to run the exe file. If that happens, click “More info,” and then click “Run Anyway.”

Notes

The demo has been primarily tested on 1920 by 1080 monitors. It has not been tested on any non-16:9 monitors. If you have a monitor that is not 16:9, please send me a report on how the game looks and if the screen scales properly!
Analog Joystick is currently less precise than playing with the D-Pad, especially when attaching to ladders in the air.

Change Log

V.05 – Too Many Games 2025 Event Build | July 2nd, 2025

This is a small update from V.04 with a few polishes for Too Many Games 2025.

Added Port Valius and Everlush Biolab region titles with an animated overlay.
Jaxa’s intro scene now takes place in the same room as Super Chops and has music and character movement! (voice over soon…)
Jaxa now runs into the biodome after the cutscene on the bridge.
Disabled camera panning down on one way platforms as it was *very* annoying (planning on re-doing the camera pan code eventually).
Bug fix for being able to attach to the top of the ladder in mid-air (this was done shortly after Too Many Games 2025).
Bug fix (yet again) for being able to climb above the ladder and not detach without jumping.
Bug fix for staying “parented” to moving platforms if you fall or walk off of them.

Known Bugs:

Crouching near a ladder at a certain distance can cause a rapid back and forth sprite glitch between standing and crouching.
Running the game for a long time (or accessing many scenes over hours of play) will cause the analog stick to cause the game to lag.
Dying at the same moment as attaching to a ladder can cause the game to crash (happened only once and have not been able to reproduce).

V.04 – Too Many Games Steam Event 2025 Build | May 6th, 2025

Nixie now has a full jump animation (finally).
Added a fancy elevator between Port Valius and Everlush Biodome.
Added a tutorial message for checking the map in Port Valius where the path splits.
Added TNT boxes to the east side of Everlush BioDome.
Reorganized maps of Port Valius and Everlush Biodome (entrance to the biodome is now part of Everlush’s map).
Made Super Chops a bit easier by removing the conveyor belts.
Moved the saver to the room directly above Super Chops as many players were missing the saver and then regretting it.
Some dialogue adjustments with Jaxa in Port Valius and the bridge scene (voice over soon!)
Fixed bug where holding left or right while climbing a ladder would cause Nixie to fall off of it near the top.
Fixed bug where Nixie would jitter or wobble when climbing a ladder that hits the ceiling.
Lots of work on the next area of the game, Oppenheim’s Gallery, but that won’t be in the demo!

Known Bugs:

Walking off of Moving Platforms or getting caught under the under them above the water will cause Nixie to remain “parented” to the platform after respawning. He’ll slide left or right (depending on the platform’s movement direction) even though he is no longer on the platform.
Running the game for a long time (or accessing many scenes over hours of play) will cause the analog stick to cause the game to lag.
Dying at the same moment as attaching to a ladder can cause the game to crash (happened only once and have not been able to reproduce).

V.03 – LI Retro Gaming Expo 2024 Build | August 15th, 2024

Added “Nixie’s Dream” tutorial area
Rewrote and re-recorded intro cutscene
Added some additional intro cutscenes
Added a new ink-based dialogue system
New pixel art character portraits
Added a save system – game now saves a file
Added animated tiles to Port Valius and Everlush
Added coyote time (jumping grace period after leaving a platform)
Added ability to pan camera up or down by holding up or down while standing still
Added ability to detach from ladder by holding down and pushing jump
Added gun charging ability (not accessible in demo)
Added attack charging ability (not accessible in demo)
Added spin attack ability (not accessible in demo)
Fixed a bug with spiders going through walls

Known Bugs:

Walking off of Moving Platforms or getting caught under the under them above the water will cause Nixie to remain “parented” to the platform after respawning. He’ll slide left or right (depending on the platform’s movement direction) even though he is no longer on the platform.
Running the game for a long time (or accessing many scenes over hours of play) will cause the analog stick to cause the game to lag.
Dying at the same moment as attaching to a ladder will cause the game to crash.
Holding left or right while climbing a ladder will cause Nixie to fall off of it near the top.

V.02 – MAGFest 2024 Build | January 23rd, 2024

Added Port Valius Area
Added a new mini-boss: Super Chops
Added an introductory cutscene with voice over
Added an in-game map
Added an Ambiance Manager to the Music Manager for environmental soundscapes.
Added a new experimental pixel art based dialogue system.
Added ability to skip dialogue conversations by pushing.
Added some arrow signs and save signs to Everlush.
Fixed a bug where attacking upward rapidly while moving will sometimes cause Nixie to get stuck in the run animation.
Fixed a bug where Nixie would not automatically detach from the top of a ladder after having entered the room on the ladder.
Fixed a bug where Nixie would slow down or lag on moving platforms.
Fixed a bug where Nixie could not jump down through platforms if touching a vertical wall.

Known Bugs

Walking off of Moving Platforms or getting caught under the under them above the water will cause Nixie to remain “parented” to the platform after respawning. He’ll slide left or right (depending on the platform’s movement direction) even though he is no longer on the platform.
Running the game for a long time (or accessing many scenes over hours of play) will cause the analog stick to cause the game to lag.
Dying at the same moment as attaching to a ladder will cause the game to crash.
Spiders can travel through walls when they shouldn’t.
Holding left or right while climbing a ladder will cause Nixie to fall off of it near the top.

V.01 – LI Retro Gaming Build / Current Steam Demo | August 28th, 2023

Increased size of downward attack hit box.
Added keyboard input support (currently non-customizable).
Added control scheme graphic/text to the control options panel.
Added a check for when the applications first opens to set the volume of Music, SFX, and Voice volume to 10.
Added Thank you title card that is shown when completing the demo.
Removed 2 gun turrets from the Everlush Lab entrance room.
Fixed a bug where the pause menu was navigable during dialogue.
Fixed a bug that was causing the spider to have inconsistent speed.
Fixed a bug where Nixie would take damage during the respawn sequence while in sparkle form.
Fixed a bug where if Nixie spawned into a room on a ladder and then triggered a respawn without touching any checkpoints, he would fall to the ground while the respawn sparkle moved into place. Now he attaches to the ladder.

Notes

There is no interactive map in this version.
There are no storyline elements in this version – the demo starts at the 2nd area of the game.

Known Bugs

Attacking upward rapidly while moving will sometimes cause Nixie to get stuck in the run animation. Ducking + attacking when this happens will release him from this state.
Getting caught under the moving platform above the water will cause Nixie to remain “parented” to the platform after respawning. He’ll slide left or right (depending on the platform’s movement direction) even though he is no longer on the platform.
Occasionally when reaching the top of a ladder, Nixie will not automatically detach from it. This happens more often when entering a room already on a ladder, such as in the saver room before Vultrix.

Development, artwork, music, design, and story by Brendan Bailey.
Special thanks to Cameron Krebbers for assisting with Unity troubleshooting, bug fixing, and for the LDTK to Unity plugin.
Explosion Assets purchased from unTied Games and Kiddolink on itch.io.
No AI was used in the creation of any art, music, sound, story, dialogue, or voice over assets.

Demo

Installation

Notes

Change Log

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