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Strange Scaffold, the studio behind the 2023 hit El Paso, Elsewhere, is thrilled to announce a five-game deal with indie publisher Frosty Pop. The deal comprises the funding and support of four new original titles from Strange Scaffold and a bespoke mobile version of El Paso, Elsewhere. Their collaboration extends to the upcoming vibrant 2.5D fighting game, Pillow Champ, as well as additional undisclosed projects.

The partnership kicks off with the release date announcement for the upcoming horror fantasy kidnapping simulator Life Eater, which will launch on Steam for PC on April 16 at a price point of $14.99. Inspired by the Saw media franchise and the apocalyptic paranoia of 10 Cloverfield Lane, Life Eater takes place in suburbia, and the player character is a modern-day druid holding down a dead-end job to pay for his true vocation: conducting the annual ritual that keeps the world from ending.

To delay this catastrophic event, he reluctantly kidnaps and sacrifices human beings every year. Acquiring these sacrifices and learning the intimate details of their lives forms an uncomfortable, compelling gameplay loop that both the player and protagonist struggle to contextualize – particularly when our protagonist doesn’t know if the threat he’s attempting to keep at bay is even real. Life Eater is available to wishlist now on Steam.

The partnership also includes the fast-paced covert revenge thriller, I Am Your Beast, a stylish hit-and-run first-person shooter where players turn the tables on the military-industrial complex. Secret agent Alphonse Harding is once again called upon to do “one last job,” and after declining, sets off a one-man guerilla war in the North American wilderness.

“Being recognized as a talent who can secure this kind of support while the video game industry is on fire is an immense honor, and we don’t take it for granted,” says Strange Scaffold’s Xalavier Nelson Jr. “Going forward, Strange Scaffold isn’t seeking arbitrary growth, risking the lives of our collaborators and the quality of our projects in the balance. We’re doing more of what we do best — creating focused, weird, and wonderful games — with a partner that shares our production philosophy and belief in serving our players. It’s a reminder that, in an industry increasingly focused on live services or just shutting things down if they don’t immediately turn a mega-profit, there’s another way of doing things. New paths can and will deliver the experiences our players deserve to play, and we’re both grateful and excited to continue breaking that ground alongside Frosty Pop.”

“The way a lot of people think about making video games is a bit askew,” says Frosty Pop founder and Creative Director Faisal Sethi. “There’s an old-guard-sensibility that believes bigger is better. More is better. Forever is better. I’m not so sure that’s always the case. Strange Scaffold’s development ethos is a reflection of our own, delivering well-designed, highly polished experiences in a precise package. This partnership is a commitment to creating captivating experiences for players in a thoughtful, meaningful, and sustainable way. I’m super excited to see what Xalavier and his team cook up next, and I’m lucky to be able to play a role in this little adventure we call making video games.”

The five-game deal, which is planned to extend into 2025, also includes a pair of unannounced games: an after-hours library horror game and a co-op kaiju horror cooking title. More information on both titles will be available in the months to come.