Underdog Studios has an upcoming indie game called Dawn of the Devs, featuring parodies of recognized industry veterans like Hideo Kojima, Cliff B and Tim Schafer in a 2D puzzle-platformer where they must save the world of gaming from a sinister character.

The three heroes include Tom Schiffer, Biff Klozinski and Hiro Komiya. I wonder if Schiffer will have a move where he’ll threaten the bad guys with a deadly weapon, start building it and then quit halfway through, leaving the enemy to die of bewilderment and disappointment?

Anyway, you can check out the promotional video below to give you an idea of what the developers are going for.

I wasn’t expecting much going in, but I can truly say that I’m impressed.

The Lost Vikings approach to the three character archetypes seems to be a cool feature that could easily extend the replayability. Having each character utilize something special – such as Biff’s run-and-gun gameplay and Komiya’s stealth – gives the game a layered, tactical element. It also reminds me a little bit of a more slowed-down version of Trine.

The enemies seem to be based on typical video game culture memes, from the troll to the hipster. There’s also a poster featuring parodies of Gabe Newell, Shigeru Miyamoto and Peter Molyneux…

The three extra characters could be included if they hit the stretch goals.

As for the game world and levels, players will venture through a Crunchtime Factory, the Pirate Harbor, the Console and Computer Church, the Ivory Tower, and the Gameyard. All of the locations and enemies are based around pop-culture references within the world of video games. Erudite gamers will easily spot out what Underdog is hinting at within each section. I’m very curious to see what the Ivory Tower will be like because it seems like it writes itself.

Anyways, they are looking for $65,000 to bring Dawn of the Devs to life. They currently have $10,000 as of the writing of this article. They have 28 days to go before the Kickstarter campaign wraps up. You can learn more about Dawn of the Devs by visiting the official Kickstarter page.