Category: Announcements

Project Escher: Development Resumes on a Soul-Bending Journey

After a period of quiet but determined work behind the scenes, I’m thrilled to officially announce that Project Escher—the game formerly known as Off the Grid: Bad Dream—has resumed full development under my indie label, Rare Castle.

The title “Project Escher” is not just a codename. It reflects the very essence of the game’s surreal environments and mind-bending architecture. Inspired by the impossible geometries of M.C. Escher and non-Euclidean space, the world of Project Escher is ethereal, dreamlike, and disorienting by design. This isn’t a world that plays by the rules of logic—and that’s exactly the point.

What’s Happening Right Now?

As of April 5th, the focus of development is centered on building the game’s main menu—but this isn’t your typical 2D interface.

The main menu is being crafted as a fully interactive 3D scene, allowing players to witness real-time visual changes as they tweak the game’s graphical settings. It’s a small glimpse into the reactive, living world we’re creating—where even the menus are part of the immersion.

A Glimpse at the Core Mechanic

While still in an early, unpolished state, I’m excited to reveal the core gameplay mechanic that drives Project Escher:

You play as a disembodied soul made of light, with the haunting ability to possess strange mechanical vessels scattered throughout the game’s mysterious world.

This soul possession system opens the door to layered gameplay, puzzles, and narrative revelations. While animations, visual effects, and movement polish are still underway, the foundational system is already functional—and it’s something truly unique.

A gameplay test video showcasing this mechanic is on the horizon, so stay tuned.

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Project Escher is more than just a game—it’s a descent into a place beyond time, identity, and form. Development may have taken a pause, but the vision never faded. And now, it’s back with clarity, purpose, and ambition.

Thank you to everyone who’s supported Rare Castle along the way. This is just the beginning of the next chapter.

— Rare Castle
Solo Developer & Dreamer

True Dreams Never Dies

A Dream Reignited: Rare Castle Returns to Development

Since 2018, a dream has been quietly burning in my heart—a vision born from passion, creativity, and an unshakable belief in storytelling through immersive worlds. What started as a side project under the humble name Salama Productions has now evolved into Rare Castle, my dedicated indie game development brand, and a true extension of who I am.

Back then, I knew this wasn’t just a passing idea. It was a long-term journey—one I was willing to pursue no matter how many years it would take. Even when life threw its hardest challenges at me, even when things went quiet on the outside… the fire never went out. Rare Castle never died. It only went deeper underground, where it could weather the storms and grow stronger in silence.

Behind the scenes, I’ve faced setbacks, overwhelming moments, and personal mountains to climb. But I never gave up. The vision remained crystal clear: to bring this world—our world—to life.

And now, I’m beyond thrilled to finally say…

Rare Castle is back. The dream is no longer paused. It’s in full motion.

I’m taking bold, serious steps (some of which I can’t reveal just yet!) to accelerate development and reclaim the time that’s passed. The energy is different now—it’s focused, determined, and fully aligned with the original spirit that sparked this journey in the first place.

The in-development title, Project Escher, formerly known as Off the Grid: Bad Dream, is officially back in heavy development. (check the project timeline and road map)

This is just the beginning of a new chapter. There’s so much I can’t wait to share with you—visuals, ideas, progress, and stories from within the world we’re building together. When the time is right, you’ll see just how far Rare Castle has come, and how far we’re going.

Thank you for believing. Thank you for being here.

The dream lives. And now… it’s rising.

— Founder of Rare Castle

More articles: https://www.rare-castle.com/news/

Introducing Rare Castle: A Pre-Seed Indie Startup with a Vision to Crowdsource an Amazing Game Project

As we enter the third quarter of 2023, I’m excited to share some great news with you about our Internal Indie Startup System. Rare Castle is a startup that is currently at the pre-seed stage, which involves validating the idea for our game project. We have a vision to create an amazing game that will delight and inspire gamers around the world.

To achieve this vision, we need your help. That’s why we have created an internal system that will boost our collaboration and efficiency. This system will allow us to:

• Organize our work, form a team, and welcome new indie devs
• Outline how we operate at this pre-seed stage and how we structure our indie startup
• Maintain order when new indie devs join us in the future
• Achieve our goals and vision for our indie startup

I’m happy to announce that this system is ready and has been implemented. This means that we can now crowdsource our indie game project through a crowdsourcing program and offer the opportunity to indie devs who are interested in our game project and share our vision to join and work with us.

This is a unique chance to be part of something amazing and make your mark on the gaming industry.

More details about our system and our crowdsourcing program will be revealed soon, so stay tuned for more updates and exciting things to come. Thank you for your support and enthusiasm.

If you are a passionate and talented indie dev who shares our vision and wants to join our team early before we make the crowdsourcing program announcement, please send us an email, we will add you to our waiting list and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Don’t miss this opportunity to join Rare Castle and be part of the next big thing in gaming. Join now and let’s make history together!

Join our waiting list

More articles: https://www.rare-castle.com/news/

Internal Indie Startup System

Internal Indie Startup System

Rare Castle Announces the Start of Development for Project Escher

Hello, this is Mohamed Fawzy, the owner and director of Rare Castle. I’m thrilled to announce that we have started developing our first game project: Project Escher.

Project Escher is an episodic adventure video game series that uses cinematic aesthetics for the storytelling of a unique psychological thriller experience. The game follows the story of a survivor of a car accident that turns his whole life upside down, where his life becomes like a very strange dream yet so real on the edge between fiction and reality.

We started working on this game on May 6, 2023, and we have been developing one of the game systems features and a very small initial part of the original story and character writing. We have also set the overall idea of the game, but we are still experimenting with a lot of things and trying to find the best way to bring our vision to life. As indie devs, we like experimenting with new ideas that go beyond the boundaries of game genres and constants.

We want to create a game that will do just that. A game that will keep you on the edge of your seat while you discover the story of a survivor of a car accident that turns his whole life upside down. A game that will make you question what is real and what is not. A game that will take you on a journey between fiction and reality.

Psychological thrillers are one of the most popular and profitable genres in gaming, as well as in movies, podcasts, and TV shows. According to PwC, the global gaming industry is expected to be worth $321 billion by 2026, and psychological thrillers are among the top drivers of this growth. Gamers love to immerse themselves in stories that challenge their minds, emotions, and perceptions.

We plan to add a dev log section to our website soon, where we will share our progress and updates on the game development. we want you to be part of our journey and join us in creating this amazing game. That’s why we invite you to follow us on our social media channels and subscribe to our newsletter to stay tuned for more news and updates on our game development.

The first episode of Project Escher is in development for Microsoft Windows and will be released when we are satisfied with the result and it’s ready. We are currently in the pre-seed stage of our development, which involves validating the idea for our game project. We are looking for ways to fund this project, such as crowdfunding, grants, or investors. We will announce the release date when we have more clarity and confidence in our timeline. For more information about the game, visit our website Here

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Thank you for your support and enthusiasm. We can’t wait to share more with you soon. Let’s make history together!

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Sources:

1- Gaming boomed in lockdown and market value will reach $320bn | World ….

2- Market Trends: Is the Mystery, Suspense, Thriller Genre Alive and Well ….

3- Category:Psychological thriller video games – Wikipedia.