Raider Kid and the Ruby Chest
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
Sneak away from your boring family vacation and delve into ancient ruins!
Parental supervision is overrated!
Play as Alex, a kid who’s itching to explore the nearby ruins while everyone else is busy attending a lecture about… rocks?! As a mysterious voice calls you into action, unraveling the secrets of The Ruby Chest becomes the only way to go back home.
Pocket-sized adventure, giant-sized fun!
Set out across a world filled with tricky puzzles, mischievous enemies, and retro handheld vibes! Leave no stone unturned (or better yet, unbroken) as you earn new abilities, discover hidden passages, and scar a priceless landmark in search of donuts and broccoli. Yep, that’s what kids did when they got lost before cellphones were invented.
But wait, there’s more!
Explore over 5 different regions filled with puzzles and bosses
Find new equipment and gather all collectables to discover the secret of the ruins
Enjoy vibrant retro visuals and catchy chiptune music, true to Game Boy Color palette and sound limitations
Collect stickers! Because everybody loves stickers
Pedro (game design, art & programming)
Fabio (programming)
Lumi (art)
Passos (music & sound design)
Bruno (writing)
Join our Discord!
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $7.99 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Download demo
Development log
- Raider Kid is here!1 day ago
- Release Date Announcement!7 days ago
- Final sprint!Nov 05, 2023
- Hammer revamp!Jun 27, 2023
- Beta is ready to go!Jan 14, 2023
- Happy New Year!Dec 31, 2021
- The Dowsing PendulumSep 07, 2021
- Alpha is on the way!Jun 08, 2021
Comments
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Is it possible to buy the game and put it on a nintendo (or emulator) to play it on the go?
Only tried it for a few minutes (well, 1st boss, and a little after that) but I love the game !
It has a Zelda Link's Awakening feel (in its 2D platforming phases) mixed with old computer games and GBC atmosphere. I love it, I love it !
(It would be greate to have several save slots as I guess my kids may want to try it as well ^_^).
We actually have this feature semi-implemented. We didn't ship it in this first release because I didn't have enough time to test it, but it will certainly pop up in the coming updates. Thanks for playing our game!
It's here! Gather your whips and your adventurer hats!
IT IS OUT YAYYYYY
Hi, your Steam store page is not available in Germany, as you have not filled out the content survey. Here’s a guide. Game looks interesting, hope to get it on Steam when it releases ^^
Done :) Thank you so much, that was very helpful!
Could we possibly get a little update?
Hey there!
I'm sorry for the lack of communication in the past couple of years.
We have resumed work on the game and have exciting news to share very soon. Stay tuned in March! ;)
That's great to hear! Thanks for the info.
Thank you so much for your patience and your continued interest, I promise we won't disappoint this time :)
There is something very strange on steam. Recently the release date was changed to Q1 2026. However, this makes absolutely no sense since we are already in the last month of Q1 2026. Can you clarify the situation? Was this a mistake? and if so, what did you actually intend to set the release date to be?
We are working hard to deliver great news very soon, stay tuned! :D
🥳🎉🔜
https://cacareco.itch.io/ruby/devlog/1469002/release-date-announcement
No longer dead! Beta testing is currently occurring, and will hopefully be through with soon enough. Yay!
Too bad, seems to be dead.
Appears so, yes. Unfortunate, this had a lot of potential. I'm especially grumpy that according to the Steam page they have it mostly finished at last posting, so they could at least release the more fully finished version...
Sorry for the delay, we're facing too many difficulties in our personal lives, but we organized ourselves to resume development this week after six or so months of break.
Thanks for the patience. For anyone interested in more details about the development, and to get access to our beta build (has all the features minus some adjustments and bug fixes), please join our discord server:
https://discord.gg/9h8ZaCZx
Thanks! Can't wait.
Great News!
the discord link is dead. Is the game finally dead?
Nope! We are releasing it next week :)
Here is the discord link: https://discord.gg/QYbZyxq9
This was so fun. I wasn't expecting to like it too much as I felt like it would be more puzzle based . However it has alot of platformer element to it. Gameplay is very fun and simple to get into it. Graphics and music very nice n catchy. When demo was finished I wanted to play more.
When this releasing as seen in comment it will be released in 2023. Going mid 2024 now.
Yep, sorry for that. This is a spare time project for us and everyone in the dev team had a pretty hard time in 2024, but now we're back on track. Development is indeed almost done, but the final details take so much time... 😰
Thanks for the support, and positive feedback. Not saying that criticisms are bad or anything, but it really gives us that final motivation required to iron out the final issues.
hi, I'm really happy to hear from you. hope eeverything is fine for u guys now. Anyway, take your time to get the game done, but I still can't wait until the game is out. :)
Can you define the keyboard controls?
Is there an English option?
Controls cannot be remapped unfortunately. It is one of the few things we haven't implemented yet because it is such a pain to do it in-game. We might consider using some other option or having the user rely on external software to remap the keys for the game.
There is an English option, yes! We have it in Portuguese and English and that can be changed in the Options menu.
Genuinely one of the best, smoothest, most interesting metroidvania experience I had.
Couple of things though :
- Some things look like they could or should be accessible, but aren't, in the demo at least. It frustrates me a lot cause it looks like I've missed something important but I'm positive I haven't.
- The medallion of courage feels like an odd artifact. Like, how is being confident allowing you to climb? Like you're less scared of heights???
Overall 10/10 experience, would recommend. Where can I buy/play more?
Thank you for the feedback!
If you want access to our beta build, we would love to hear more feedback. Please join our discord server:
https://discord.gg/9h8ZaCZx
This game is really great, it hits all of the GBC-check-boxes.
I'm really looking forward to the full game!
Quick question, how much of the full game does this demo cover?
Roughly 15%. But exploration is a bit more challenging in the later parts of the game, so they might take more time than the beginning to complete.
Hi, is there any chance this will still be released in Q2 2023?
We just wrapped up the beta and we're now polishing the gameplay. We are actually introducing some new things even though we should be wrapping up the game hahaha
Our aim at the moment is Q3, more precisely July/August. Thanks a lot for following our work :)
I see. It would be nice if you could update the release date on steam the month before the month the game is planned to come out as this will allow me to promote the game as an upcoming release for that coming month.
*coughs in 2025*
any news by now? :-)
😅
Any chance of an actual GameBoy Color version of this game that I can play on my Analogue Pocket?
Unfortunately, we're only mimicking the Game Boy aesthetic, but the game is actually developed with the Unity game engine. I'm not sure if the Analogue Pocket has standard x64/ARM support, but if it does, it would most likely run as our game is pretty light on resources.
However, if it only runs Game Boy ROMs, then it won't happen. We don't have the technical expertise to do that.
Why not release the alpha version here too?
We're planning on updating the demo here and on Steam with all the changes we made over the past couple of years. It will be mostly about small adjustments, don't expect big content changes!
The alpha will be made available through Steam (because it has this feature builtin) or through email if someone is interested in providing detailed feedback but doesn't want to install Steam. We will, however, restrict the number of players simply because we won't have time to go through all the feedback if we send it to too many people.
In any case, you're free to join the alpha! We'll make a post about it either this weekend or in the next with the details.
I'm sorry for our slow pace, but it has been hard to cope with our day jobs and personal issues. We're still on it though! The alpha will soon be available and we hope to have the final release early next year.
I use Linux and normally I write a script to rebind keys for games
that don't have built in rebinding but on this particular game,
my script won't work. Are you hitting the hardware directly or
something to make the keyboard work? Can you include key
rebinding please in the final version? Thank you!
This is what my script looks like, it rebinds to WASD for control,
. for whip, / for jump and TAB for map. Then after game exits,
it changes everything back. Except it won't work on your game
for some reason, yet this is how I do all my other non-rebindable
games.
xmodmap -e "keycode 38 = Left"
xmodmap -e "keycode 39 = Down"
xmodmap -e "keycode 40 = Right"
xmodmap -e "keycode 25 = Up"
xmodmap -e "keycode 60 = x"
xmodmap -e "keycode 61 = z"
xmodmap -e "keycode 23 = space"
./RubyChestDemo-v1.4.2
setxkbmap -layout us
Sure! After the beta we'll take a closer look at the input, and I'll take the remaps into consideration. Thanks for letting us know!
Awesome! That rocks! Thanks! Really anxious to see the game! 8)
https://indieoyun.org/raider-kid-and-the-ruby-chest/
I love your game. That’s why I wanted to promote your game.
Thank you so much for the review and for linking the website! The game is getting closer and closer to being ready - we're at the final 10%!
Hi.
Then if you let me know when it’s complete, I’ll replay the game.
So looking forward to the full game! :O
I remember playing this demo a while ago and really liking it! Just checking in to see how the game is coming along. From what I've read it looks like it'll be out later this year or early next year. Looking forward to it! Much love and wish you all all the best! :)
How is this game coming along? I've been following it for years, just wondering if it's close to being released? When it does get released,
please release it here on ITCH also. Many developers choose to only
put demos out here and then sell the full game on STEAM. I do not
support STEAM but I will buy a game from GOG or ITCH. Thanks! 8)
Hey there! Thanks a lot for your support :) We are finishing implementing some optional content now, and soon there will be only bug fixing/polishing left to do, so hopefully we'll release by the end of this year.
And don't worry, we will release the full game both on Itch and Steam! :)
That is excellent news!
I will be buying it as soon as it's available! 8)
Good luck with the release!
Glad to hear, didnt expect that this game is stil developed.
loved the demo, looking forward to it! :-)
Me still been here, standing here in the queue :-)
This was a good game. I wish the Demo was a bit longer but i can't complain about the Gameplay, i also like the music and the Graphic of it.
I made a video of the Demo if someone is interested.
is there a way to claim the game? i can't download it at the moment
Hi! Sorry for the delayed response.
Currently we only have our demo available. It can be downloaded for free but we accept any contributions to strengthen the further development of the game :)
Not sure why you can't see the download section, though. For me, it looks like this:
Great game! I am looking forward to it!
Looking forward to the full game. When does it come out? :-)
Hello! Thanks a lot for playing our demo.
We're aiming to release this early next year but since we develop this in our free time, we might have to review this schedule. However, we're getting quite close to having all the features implemented!
We ran a closed alpha earlier this year and I hope we can run a closed beta soon. We'll keep you posted with another blog post :)
It reminds me a lot of Wario Land 2, but more metroidvania. I would love to see the complete game.
PD: The hooded man really has solid arguments.
Hahahaha, did you figure out what they say?
Thanks a lot for playing our demo :)
Wario Land 2 was my only gameboy game for a long time and became a great inspiration for Raider Kid :) I am glad you like it!
Thanks. It was nice to play something like Wario Land now that Nintendo doesn't make them anymore.
PD: I really don't know what the hooded man is saying, but I WILL KNOW...
PPD:
didn;t play the game yet but isn't this spelunky guy ?
Wow, thanks a lot for recording a play-through!
No problem, maybe i will play more game from you!! :)
could this be ported to real gbc hardware?
Although we are embracing graphic, computational and sound limitations from the actual Game Boy Color hardware as closely as possible, we are developing the game in Unity, so to play it on a GBC hardware we would have to remake it from scratch using a GB developing kit of some sort.
We also break a few rules now and then. For example, the music loops are longer than your usual GB music, which makes the songs less repetitive but also means an increase in file size that would probably not fit in a GBC cartridge. We love the simple aesthetics from the Game Boy era but we also want the game to feel as comfortable as possible to a modern day audience.
To put it short, the amount of liberty we are taking is similar to how Yacht Club Games had when making Shovel Knight.
Would love to see it on switch if possible!! Loving the game!
Yeah, it would be really cool to see this on GBC. Have you seen how the creators of Alwa's Awakening approached the issue of porting their NES-style game to NES? They looked for a retro dev on Twitter, and now the game is coming to that console...
Really good demo. Looking forward to the full release. Keep it up.
Me gustó el juego, tiene mucho potencial, es simple, sencillo y para toda la familia.
eu quero mais, que jogo incrível man :)
I like the game!
Really nice game. There is true love there :)
Just one thing. Let players configure buttons somehow please.
I was playing it and the default mapping is not the best for my pad
This game is truly charming. I wished it would have been longer though.
I made an entire video about it. I did not delve to deep into it cause I wanted others to also explore by themself. If your interested to watch it, here is the link to it.
We love this game!!! Thank you :)
I love this game and my son loves it too! We can't wait for you guys to finish it!
Nice demo.
Great game! Loved everything, very well done, smooth and fun to play. 5 stars!!! Congrats, on my radar for the full version :)
Nice game :) ! It has a lot of humor and great pixel art! Waiting for the whole game.
excellent game that feels like it was inspired by la-mulana. great presentation; i love the interactive logo, the intro cutscene, and the spinning save floppy. really good controls and fun puzzle solving/exploration. i wish its future development well!
Thank you very much for playing our game! You were one of the few to find that secret treasure in which you have to break a brick in the wall while standing on a retractable platform :D
Sorry that the contents of the demo weren't clear, we will update our page to reflect that and also give a hint at what collectables you can find in it xD
We just watched your stream and we were wondering if you were able to play the game with a controller at some point. The intended behavior is that all connected devices should work and I noticed that the UI was using the Xbox controller buttons to explain the game's input. I guess the controller was recognized but the inputs were blocked for some reason. If that is not too much trouble, could you please describe your setup so we can try to reproduce the problem on our side?
I use a standard PS4 controller connected via USB. When I tested the game before that stream, controller support worked fine. During the stream, it didn't work at all for whatever reason.
I tested my controller today and it seems to be working fine. I thought maybe on stream I plugged the controller in after starting the game and that messed something up. But, I tried just that right now and it still worked (the title changed from 'Press Z' to 'Press A').
All that said, I think it might ultimately be a problem with my controller/cord. Lately, it's been disconnecting whenever i jostle the cord. I wouldn't worry about any bugs with the game unless someone else mentions this problem or a similar one. The fact that it's now working convinces me so. Hope this helps!
and thanks for checking out the vid/stream lol :)
Bom dia. Temos uma proposta pra lhe fazer. Favor me informar seu whatsapp ou email
Muito bom
Awesome game, but I feel like there's so much that I missed. I sweeped all of the rooms and came up empty handed. Couldn't swim, and couldn't break the super blocks. In the end, I'm not sure if those powers exist, but looking at your screenshots, they're all there... I'm confused as to whether these paths are available yet or coming? Can't wait for the full game tho.
Hey, thanks Camh! :)
Some of the screenshots are from later parts of the game, not featured in the demo. In the final version you will be able to find tools that allow swimming, breaking the super blocks and other actions.
Although you can't do all these things yet, you get a special message if you find all available items in the demo, so you'll know when you have found 100% of them. Some of them are pretty hard to find, though!