Amalu - Wells Between Worlds

📍 Washington, DC (US)

🏷️ Video Games

Amalu: Wells Between Worlds

✦ “When the wells of the Atlas mountains run dry, a young shepherd follows the moon’s reflection into the depths below…”

Amalu is a mystical, atmospheric pixel-art platformer inspired by Amazigh and North African folklore.

In this demo, player descend into the forgotten wells of the Maghreb, seeking the source of the drought that grips the land. What awaits below is far from ordinary. Spirits stir in the dark, ancient spells lie hidden, and the legendary Aïsha Qandisha guards the waters she has stolen.

Now, with your support, we’re ready to grow this demo into the full vision we’ve dreamed of.

This Kickstarter will decide whether Amalu stays a small beginning… or blossoms into a vast world connected by wells,  you can truly explore.

Story of Amalu

“Amalu” is a Tamazight word meaning “shadow,” “reflection,” or “symbol.” It’s a concept rooted in Amazigh storytelling, a word often tied to memory, spirit, and the things that remain even when everything else fades. 

For us, it represents heritage…the pieces of culture we inherit, protect, and eventually pass on.

With this in spirit at its core, Amalu: Wells Between Worlds is a pixel-art metroidvania blending...

✦ Atmospheric exploration
 

✦ Spell-casting puzzle mechanics

✦ Amazigh/North African mythology

✦ Emotional storytelling

✦ Combat against spirits, djinn, and corrupted myths

✦ A unique “Well Travel” mechanic between worlds (There will be a lot of wells!)

The demo already released, features six handcrafted areas, but this is only the prologue to a much bigger journey...

The World of Amalu

In the demo, players only glimpse the surface of Amalu’s world, but even this small slice reveals two connected realms:

Above, a quiet North African forest under a watchful moon. Roots, stones, and wind hide a well that should have remained sealed… until it calls the young shepherd downwards.

Bellow, a surreal spiritual underworld where reality cracks and folklore breathes. Caves with ancient symbols, crumbling towers of forgotten builders, upside-down forests full of uncanny life, and sacred chambers touched by the presence of old spirits.


These spaces are only the beginning fragments of a deeper universe shaped by:

✦ Amazigh motifs, patterns, and symbols

✦ North African landscapes and rural mountain life

✦ Beliefs about wells as thresholds to the unseen

✦ Myths of Aïsha Qandisha and other desert spirits

✦ Childhood memories of shepherd life in the isolated mountain villages

With your support, this world can expand far beyond the demo:

✦ A network of Wells Across the Maghreb
Each well acts as a portal to a new underworld biome. Sky caverns, spirit deserts, submerged temples, ruined medinas, shifting dreamscapes are some of our plans for the future of Amalu.

✦More Above-Ground Regions
Vibrant Amazigh villages, moonlit plateaus, cedar forests, cliffside pastures, oasis towns. All affected by the drought you’re trying to end.

✦A Living and Spiritual Realm
Characters and spirits with personalities, stories and secrets that better reflect the world of Amalu.

✦Ancient Civilizations to Unearth
Forgotten temples, tombs, and underground cities inspired by real North African lore and architecture, each tied to a different mythic entity.

✦A true Folklore Metroidvania
Where exploration, spells, and puzzles blend with narrative… and every new area helps you understand the deeper mystery behind why the wells dried.

Main Character

You play as Amir, a young shepherd from a small Amazigh village where every family once guarded a well.

After his grandmother, the last well keeper, passes away, the wells around him begin to dry, and strange things stir beneath the earth. When the moon reflects inside his family’s well for the first time in years, Amir climbs down… and discovers a hidden world of spirits, myths, and memories that should have never been awakened.

Amir isn’t a warrior. He’s a quiet, curious kid armed with a shepherd’s staff, a clay water pitcher that has been passed down through generations, and the determination to save both worlds.

On his journey, he learns forgotten spells, confronts legendary beings like Aisha Qandisha, and uncovers the truth behind the curse spreading through the wells and the mysterious legacy left to him by the well keepers.

Why Kickstarter?

When we began Amalu, it wasn’t with a big studio, a huge budget, or a marketing plan.

It was just a small group of creators, some who grew up with these stories: the wells, the spirits, the folklore whispered around fires, and a shared dream of turning them into a living world players could explore.

We made this demo with the time, savings, and energy we had… and once people started playing it, something became clear:

✦ There’s a real hunger for stories like these.✦

Folklore from North Africa is rarely represented in games, let alone in a way that treats it with respect, beauty, and mystery.

And we realized: We can’t finish this alone.

That’s why this Kickstarter exists.

Your support will help us turn this small beginning into a the full experience we envisioned, a well crafted, heartfelt metroidvania full of atmosphere, puzzles, spirits, music, and meaning.


 

Here's what your backing directly makes possible:

✦ Expand the World
Creating hand-drawn pixel environments, from forests and caverns to ruins and impossible underworld realms inspired by Amazigh mythology. Filling it with interesting characters for you to interact with and learn more from about Amalu’s world.

✦ Developing the Core mechanics
Polishing and expanding everything the prototype hinted at: wells as gateways, water-based spells, meaningful charms, new enemies, new bosses, and new ways to explore.

✦ Bringing the soundscape to life
Funding a full OST and sound design that captures the mystery of this world’s well, spirits, and moonlit deserts.

✦ Building the Underworld
More areas, more biomes, more secrets…and more spirits with their own stories and roles to play.

✦ Making a Playable Early-Access Version 
Not just a vertical slice, but the start of the true game. Something you can touch, explore, and help shape through feedback.


If you choose to support us, you’re not just backing a project.

You’re helping carve a new space for Amazigh and North African folklore in the gaming world.

And we’re building it together, one well at a time....

Funding Goal

We are setting a Kickstarter goal of $100,000 USD.

This funding will help us transform Amalu from a self-funded prototype into a rich, fully-developed metroidvania, filled with handcrafted environments, layered mechanics, authentic folklore, and spiritual depth.

How your Support will be used:

✦ Animation & Art (35%)- 35,000$
Pixel-art environments. character/boss animations, VFX, UI, assets
✦ Programming (20%)- 20,000$
Core systems, puzzle logic, world-switching, combat, performance
✦ Music and Sound Design (15%)- 15,000$
Original OST, ambient soundscapes, magical SFX rooted in folklore
✦ Writting & Production (10%)- 10,000$
Narrative design, lore integration, scripting, planning, QA
✦ Kickstarter Fees & Taxes (10%)- 10,000$
Platform fees, payment processing, tax compliance, accounting
✦ Marketing & Distruibution (10%)- 10,000$
Promo trailers, press outreach, community building, Steam costs

Tiers and Rewards

Follow Us!

If you want to see more Moroccan & Amazigh folklore in games, this Kickstarter is the moment to make it possible. 
Every pledge helps us expand this world, hire creatives, and dive deep into the wells.

To keep being updated about the game’s development, give our socials a follow!
 

Join our list: https://amaluthegame.com/signup.html
X: https://x.com/IndieTechStudi0 
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/indietechstudios.bsky.social 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indie.techstudios/ 
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@indietechstudio 
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/IndieTechStudios/ 
Discord Invite: https://discord.gg/Fg4pN7er
Prototype on Itch.io: https://indietech-studios.itch.io/amaluwellsbetweenworlds