Rochard sequel prototype shown off

Rochard developer Recoil Games has shown off seven minutes of a prototype sequel to its puzzle platformer starring the voice behind Duke Nukem, Jon St. John. Don't get too excited just yet, as the game's actually on hold. Alas, the original game struggled to get attention, so Recoil's having trouble drumming up funding.

"This pre-production stage preview uses assets and mechanics mostly from the original game, but there are lot of new mechanics planned," Recoil explained (via Eurogamer). "The project is on hold, but once we get the funding settled we are ready to continue."

Rochard earned solid reviews when it finally launched, but it was a nasty journey to release. Recoil was hit hard when the PlayStation Network was hacked and down for yonks, as Rochard was initially a PS3 exclusive and it couldn't secure extra funding. Several layoffs followed, while a small group finished and polished up PC and Mac editions. Alas, those had no real marketing budget, and their November launch got somewhat lost in the holiday rush.

"There are seven guys (and a lot of debt) left in the company," Recoil said last month in a blog post. "We were about to give up with Rochard, but we were given an opportunity to release a boxed version of the game with Nordic Games GmbH and participate in the Humble Bundle. Now that's been done, it's time to give Rochard the fame it deserves. A DLC and a sequel are definitely in our plans."

The Humble Indie Bundle 6 is still running for a day or so, if you want to snap up Rochard and some other top games at the bargain price of whatever-you-fancy-paying. Now, here's some of what it hopes to do with a sequel: