Race The Sun dev's next game is a procedurally-generated Star Fox

Race The Sun was quite good, wasn't it? Turns out, Flippfly's procedural sun-chaser was already halfway towards being a compelling Star Fox successor. Preparing for a crowdfunding campaign next month, the developer's next game is Whisker Squadron—a lo-fi dogfighter that brings blasters and bosses to Race The Sun's endless fields.

Announced earlier this year, Whisker Squadron already looks promising. Like Race The Sun, you'll be soaring through minimal, procedural landscapes. Unlike Race The Sun, these will be full of baddies to blast and a range of feline pilots, each with their own abilities. Boss Fights, too, will be generated on demand, with one clip showing some kind of helicopter... laser... squid... thing?

Race The Sun's DNA is clear in the way the low-poly ship swoops and soars. And I'm glad for it, too—that game was quietly one of my favourites of the last decade, a relaxing little timewaster with seriously chill vibes. 

But Whisker Squadron builds on that in all the right ways, swapping that game's sparse chrome landscapes for something altogether more vibrant, with screenshots frequently breaking into completely abstract space. Some of the bosses look downright inspired, too, summoning spirals of rock as beam cannons fire overhead.

There'll be story beats introducing you to your purr-fect co-pilots (sorry), along with a roguelike mission structure and between-mission upgrades. Flippfly is launching a Kickstarter campaign on April 6th, hopefully bringing the game to Steam later this year.

Natalie Clayton
Features Producer

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.