Remember when crazy 2-D PC games were the be-all and end-all? Bowbarian, a new scrolling, arrow-’em-up out of Austin, definitely does.

Bowbarian is the first project from new local gaming house Box Fort Games (aka husband and wife Jeremy and Heather Jorgensen, and Danish gaming artist whizz Karen Bennetzen). It follows grinning, loin-cloth-clad adventurer Bowabrain and his furry associate Tiny as they quest across the mythic world of Rhona in search of the evil wizard, The Great Bazzini. Skeletal dinosaurs, crystal kingdoms, and bows that hurl everything from arrows to axes are all part of the madcap antics, as Tiny and Bowbarian, deal with the unexpected and potentially monstrous.

Can Bowbarian save the day? Of course. He is, as his creators know, the Moon Bounce of Awesome.

So far, the project looks like a madcap fusion of Adventure Time and classic dungeon basher Gauntlet, and both of those are things we love a lot around here.

Here’s the big quest: the defenders of Box Fort are trying to raise a massive $150,000 to complete development on the game. Sound like a lot? It is, but another local 2-D fantasy game, Children of Morta, recently surpassed their $65,000 target by almost double, so the passion for such games is still there.

If you’re interested in putting more arrows in Bowbarian’s quiver (and remember, it’s being developed for Mac and PC), then head over to their Kickstarter page, or find out more at www.bowbarian.com.

One in a Crowd is a series intended to showcase Texas film and tech projects that are crowdfunding their way to a goal, be it distribution, a prototype, or production costs. If you have a project that we should know about, email us at filmflam@austinchronicle.com.

This article appears in April 10 • 2015.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.