Announcing E-Gene, a new visual novel series by Laplacian and MiKandi Japan!

We have big news coming straight from Japan. We’re excited to announce that we’ve partnered with Japanese game maker Laplacian (of Newton and the Apple Tree fame) to develop a new and original visual novel SERIES! The working title for our project is E-Gene, and the story revolves around famous historical figures and animal girls!

Now that the E’s frisky ears have your own ears perked up, let’s pounce right onto the concept, which we hope you’ll love as much as we do.

Ono Wasabi, Game Producer for Laplacian is with us to explain our game’s world and to introduce the first character!

Game World Concept

The key concept behind E-Gene is that “All the great struggles throughout human history were due to the disputes between dogs and cats”.

Marie Antoinette, who was on the side of the dogs during the revolution led by the cat side, incurred the wrath of the public when she said “Well, if all the cats are gone, let them keep dogs”.

Joan of Arc made all other dog lovers rabidly jealous when she declared that she had heard the voice of Dog – the cat fanatics wouldn’t accept her devout dog-ly ways either, and so she was executed as a heretic.

And of course, the Republicans and Democrats over in the USA – when it comes down to it, that’s all about dogs and cats fighting too. The great disputes between dogs and cats continue ever on…

In our story, great historical figures are being brought back to life using genetic technology, when another grand dispute unfolds. And to top it off, these great figures are coming back… as adorable animal girls!

So, what do you think? Pretty fun, right? This is shaping up to be a super fun project that we hope you’ll enjoy as much as us!

First Character: Oda Nobunyaga

“I am the great NobuNYAga!”

The character who’ll be brought back in the First Project is none other than the great Japanese samurai Oda Nobunaga… or should we say, NobuNYAga! Kitty Nobunyaga is a bossy and greedy girl, but she also gets lonely easily and is a bit of a crybaby. She’s curious about the modern era she’s been brought back in, and when she finds something she wants her tail sticks straight up. Nyaaaw! Everyone who sees her says “Yes, cat ears are the best in the world”.

Second Character: Joan of Arc (aka *Joan of B’Ark)

Here’s Laplacian’s black and white concept sketch of the foxiest, friskiest, most bodacious sword-swingin’ warrior maiden this side of the Mississippi. *Okay, I was only joking about her name. We have been referring to her as “Joan of Arc”, but since she’s a kitsune (fox) girl, her name might become a little more, well, foxy. If you have fun/moe/spicy suggestions, let us know in the comments.

Production, Pricing, & Funding

MiKandi Japan is producing and publishing the series. Laplacian is currently planning the story, and will do scenario writing and artwork creation. The game will be fully voiced in Japanese by Japanese voice artists, and playable with both English and Japanese subtitles!

When it comes to pricing, E-Gene will be a very affordable game series… One to ten hour games for $1-$10 each. Our formula is: high quality Japanese production value, tight and juicy storytelling, with pet-like lovable pricing.

Who’s funding this series? We all are, right?! The first game is slated for a fall 2018 release and will be created with funds raised right here on Patreon. After that, a Kickstarter campaign to further develop the series is being planned.

**Please note: Each month, the funds we collect on Patreon goes to pay for Libra’s translation improvements first; to the professional translation company responsible, LoveLab (who we mentioned in this post). Then, the leftover funds are going into the new game.**

Help Us Fund E-Gene!

To keep our schedule, we’ve set a goal to double our current number of patrons, and we sincerely need your help to make this happen. If you’re as excited about seeing Nobunyaga come to life as we are, then get up from your cat nap and do two things!

1. Hit the SHARE button at the top of our Patreon page, and spread the word about E-Gene to all of your friends!

2. Check out the NEW items that we’ve added to our tiers and become a patron! Or if you already are, consider upgrading your current reward tier. Thanks!

Become a Patron!

Of course if you’re not excited about Nobunyaga, then we know exactly which side of the dispute that you’re on, and the cats will remember it for eternyaty!

More about Laplacian

Laplacian is a Japanese game studio specializing in creating bishoujo visual novels that focus on science, comedy, and adventure. Their previous title, Newton and the Apple Tree is currently receiving a localization in English which was made possible through a successful Kickstarter campaign headed by publisher Sol Press and supported by MiKandi Japan earlier this year. The English version of the game is slated for release in May, 2018. Laplacian can be found here:

Official site: https://laplacian.jp/

Twitter: @laplacian_info

*For questions or to set up an interview in English, we invite press to reach out to us via our contact page . We look forward to hearing from you!