Transform into a skeleton and fix bugs in this fourth wall-breaking retro action game within a game 

Bonefish Games announced Miracle Corp. on February 8. The 2D metroidvania-style action platformer will be playable on PC (Steam) in English and Chinese, release date TBA. 

Miracle Corp’s story has metafictional elements. In the game, the player acquires a strange, buggy retro game that was developed by Miracle Corp. The bugs are said to be hiding secrets and the player will have to dig deep into the retro game to uncover the truth. You will be helped by an AI tour guide as you find and fix these bugs. 

The retro game within the game was made in 1987 with almost entirely black and white pixel art. The player was meant to take on the role of a hero, but a strange bug has turned the main character into a monster skeleton. You will use the skeleton’s abilities to progress through each stage. These abilities include attacking bat and mushroom-like enemies with a bone and using your skull to jump to other platforms. You will even have resurrection and body swapping powers. 

You can strengthen your skeleton character by exploring the dungeons to level up and find better equipment and weapons. The game will also have more relaxing-sounding sandbox elements such as farming and alchemy, which you can do between battles. According to the description on Steam, the stages and bosses will be rather difficult to clear, requiring you to come up with suitable strategies for beating them. 

To play this game within a game properly, the player will tackle programming minigames where they modify the code to fix bugs. Miracle Corp. also promises branching storylines that depend on the player’s choices. The retro game within the game, referred to only as “THE GAME” in the trailer, will apparently break the fourth wall by demanding that you “Leave this game now!” As they play though this challenging and buggy game within a game, the player will uncover the secrets of Miracle Corp. and be faced with decisions that will impact the ending. 

Miracle Corp. will be released on PC (Steam). 

Written by. Verity Townsend based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2024-02-11 13:01 JST)