Air Hares is a retro arcade top-down flyer PC game in which Captain Rabbo must seed and water the barren carrot field while dodging attacks from the falcons of the Gale Gang.
Download & play the FREE game demo from Itch.io: https://airhares.itch.io/air-hares
Air Hares was born of a simple idea: what if bunnies could figure out how to fly airplanes?
From there, Captain Rabbo Sunskipper came to life as the spirited, sensitive and relentlessly driven leader of a squadron of Air Hares – various rabbit creatures (and one scraggly pooch). This group of small furry mammals take to the skies in retrofitted remote control airplanes to revitalize the carrot crop and defend their home of Winrose against the dastardly owl Twin Horn and his dumb but terrifying gang of predatory birds.
Created by husband-and-wife team Tim and Megan Bungeroth, Air Hares is built around a story that reflects their infertility journey, and what happens when nature blocks your path and technology lets you find a new way.
The three-episode graphic novel introduces Captain Rabbo, her trusty canine companion Dirk Doggo, the villainous owl Twin Horn, and various other characters who reside in the world of Winrose. The backstory of Captain Rabbo is revealed, including how she and Dirk found themselves in Winrose following the deadly Black Blaze storm that pushed humans out of the land and left its creatures to rebuild a habitable world.
“Air Hares is the culmination of my childhood influences and artistic passions. It is a love letter to ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,’ ‘Batman: The Animated Series,’ the original ‘Star Wars’ trilogy, and Nintendo; it is also a product of my training as a metrical poet and playwright,” says writer and executive producer Tim Bungeroth. “I wanted to create a game and world that is accessible and entertaining to children while also exploring emotions and conflicts that will resonate with adults.”
Air Hares launched with a Kickstarter campaign on October 19 to fund the full production of the 200-page digital graphic novel and PC video game; the project reached 50% of its funding goal within the first 5 days, and 60% in the first week.
CREATOR BIOS
TIM BUNGEROTH (Co-Creator, Writer, Game Designer & Executive Producer) is a playwright and writer who specializes in narrative design and verse. A Chicago native, Tim returned to his hometown in 2015 following a seven-year stint in New York City, where he and his wife ran an independent theatre company, A Festival of Fools. They produced classical and neoclassical verse plays, many written by and featuring Tim, performed in various venues and festivals throughout the city. Tim received his MFA in Writing from the School for the Art Institute of Chicago, and works as a security awareness specialist for a tech company in Chicago, leaning on his communication and storytelling skills to teach others and inject Star Wars memes into Slack conversations whenever possible.
MEGAN BUNGEROTH (Co-Creator, Marketing Maven) is a magazine editor, writer, New Jersey native and ardent Cubs fan. She earned her MA in journalism from the Craig Newmark School of Journalism in New York and worked as a local newspaper reporter and editor until moving to Chicago. She currently works in content marketing and is the president of the non-profit Association for Women Journalists-Chicago.
ARTHUR BUNGEROTH (Chief Financial Officer) is a 1-year-old Cairn terrier-chihuahua mix. He is the inspiration for the character Dirk Doggo and consults on many elements of Air Hares development. As the CFO, he often takes trips to the bank, but only goes so far as the front vestibule (it is unclear what business he has at the bank).
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON AIR HARES
WEBSITE:
About, Maps, Game Demo, Podcast
KICKSTARTER:
https://bit.ly/AirHaresKickstarter
PC GAME DEMO, PILOT’S MANUAL & FIRST EPISODE SCRIPT:
https://bit.ly/AirHaresDownloads
PODCAST:
“Hold on Tight: The Making of Air Hares”
Creators Tim Bungeroth & Megan Bungeroth take you behind the scenes of their independent project to share the origin story of Air Hares, the creative vision, and how it will come to life. “Hold on Tight” is a podcast about what happens when the world tells you no, and you do it anyway. Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Anchor, Pocket Casts and more platforms.
INSTAGRAM:
@airhares
https://www.instagram.com/airhares/
ESSAY ON ORIGIN STORY:
“On Waiting, Infertility & the Making of Air Hares,” by Megan Bungeroth
How the path to having kids led us to IVF, the perfect dog, a thousand lessons in patience, and the making of a video game and graphic novel about a bunny airplane pilot who never gives up
Leave a Reply