Would you put your financial future on the line to resurrect a dead video game genre? That’s essentially what Nathan Dearth has done with Tricky Mad

Tricky Madness channels the spirit of SSX

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2024-10-18 04:00:03

Would you put your financial future on the line to resurrect a dead video game genre? That’s essentially what Nathan Dearth has done with Tricky Madness, his arcade-style snowboarding game that releases in Early Access on November 15th for PC, Mac, and Linux computers.

After the Kickstarter for the game’s development failed, Nathan took out multiple business credit cards to fund development. “I’ve since dropped my credit score over 130 points and my bank cut me off because I’m now perceived as a high credit risk,” Nathan told me a few weeks ago via email. “This game is 100% all my time, effort, energy, money, and everything else poured into one pursuit.”

He’s helped by a team of generous developers who have agreed to work for IOUs, most of whom reached out after seeing the game on Kickstarter. To Nathan and his team, Tricky Madness is more than a game—it’s an attempt to raise this genre from the dead.

Tricky Madness takes much of its inspiration from the SSX series, games that I also loved and have failed to find a replacement for. In my view, modern snowboarding games are too focused on realism. Nathan, too, found something missing in today’s landscape. “All of the old arcade racing games are huge sources of inspiration for Tricky Madness,” he said. “Back when games were about having fun—simple, arcade-y fun.”