LONDON – May 2, 2019 – The UK based independent game developer Nyamyam have announced Astrologaster, a narrative-driven comedy game based on a true story, is now available for iOS devices on the App Store® for $4.99 USD/€5,49/£4.99. PC and Mac players can wishlist Astrologaster on Steam ($9.99 USD) which will launch on May 9. To set the stage of what’s in store for players, Nyamyam created a trailer for the title https://youtu.be/Qpjyo5lP7Qc.

Astrologaster is a story-driven comedy game set in Shakespeare’s London based on a true — and truly ridiculous — story. The player takes on the role of Dr. Simon Forman, who used astrology to diagnose and treat his patients’ various maladies. Will he earn a medical license through these, ahem, unconventional practices? Will you the player win over his patients by reading their fortunes, or will you ruin their lives?

“We’re extremely excited to release our independently made comedy game on the AppStore! Bringing this bizarre side-note in history come alive, as a historic period comedy game, was a rewarding experience. Simon Forman and his casebooks were a treasure trove of odd, hilarious and at times alarming problems and treatments. Using Forman’s practice as a lens to satirize contemporary social and political themes of today, such as gender politics, unionization, BREXIT and the entertainment industry, was an absolute pleasure,” said Jennifer Schneidereit, who founded Nyamyam and is creative director on Astrologaster. “I’m extremely proud of what our dev and research team were able to accomplish and we’re looking forward to releasing Astrologaster via Steam next week, so all the PC fans can chart the stars for Dr. Forman’s patients.”

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpjyo5lP7Qc[/embedyt]

Nyamyam’s founder and creative director, Jennifer Schneidereit, conceptualized Astrologaster after attending a workshop and was by chance partnered up with Dr. Lauren Kassell, a professor of History of Science and Medicine at the University of Cambridge. The two discussed the notorious astrologer Dr. Simon Forman and his 30,000+ casebooks and patient records. Forman’s patients’ problems painted a vivid portrait of Elizabethan London, and Schneidereit was fascinated both by the doctor’s ambition to become the Queen’s advisor and his unusual cases. Inspired by the wealth of hilarious source material and with the help of Kassel’s research team, Schneidereit aimed to create a British-style comedy, and narrative experience that would involve practicing real astrology as an accessible gameplay mechanic.

For more information about Astrologaster visit astrologaster.com, or follow on @nyamyamgames or Facebook. To purchase Astrologaster visit http://AppStore.com/Astrologaster.

About Nyamyam
Founded in 2010 by Jennifer Schneidereit, Nyamyam is an independent game developer based in the UK. The studio strives to create beautifully crafted games with unconventional concepts. Their award winning 2014 debut title, Tengami, is an atmospheric adventure game set in a Japanese paper-crafted pop-up world. The studio is working to release their second title, Astrologaster, a narrative-driven comedy game about the real-life 16th century medical astrologer Simon Forman. Astrologaster’s development was supported by grants from the Wellcome Trust and the Creative Europe Media Program.

About Indie MEGABOOTH
Founded by Kelly Wallick, Indie MEGABOOTH (IMB) is a hand-curated traveling showcase of passionate creators working together to bring independent games to the forefront of the gaming community’s mind. Its mission is to give small teams equal footing for thoughtful, atypical experiences frequently reserved for multi-million dollar AAA titles at events such as PAX West, PAX East, GDC, E3, WePlay, among others. Since 2011, IMB has been connecting its global Alumni Network of more than 700 developers to business partners, press, and fans. At its core, IMB prides itself in crafting long-term mutually beneficial relationships and being advocates for the indie dev community at large.

About The Casebooks Project
Astrologaster takes its inspiration from Simon Forman’s casebooks. These are part of the Casebooks Project, and the Casebooks team has acted as historical consultants for the game. In the decades around 1600, the astrologers Simon Forman and Richard Napier produced one of the largest surviving sets of medical records in history. The Casebooks Project, a team of scholars at the University of Cambridge, has transformed this paper archive into a digital archive.