New game: Bel's Fanfare
A new expressive RPG by Chibig
The video game news and events calendar kicks off 2026 with a new title in development: Bel’s Fanfare.
Bel’s Fanfare is an exploration-based RPG with expressive bullet hell encounters coming to Kickstarter next February 3rd — You can now follow the project to support it first!
In this game, we play as Bel, a little imp who is tasked with cleaning aura, a substance related to emotions, with her gong-shield Ukoback in what was once a luxurious cruise ship called The Witch of the Sea.
This is Chibig’s second game in development, alongside Elusive, also announced in early 2025, which has already smashed its Kickstarter goal and is scheduled for release in 2027.
A trip through fantasy and wonder
Inspired by the first Zelda 3D classics, we present our most atmospheric adventure to date, brimming with exciting and fast-paced combat and promising narrative excellence at every moment of this heartful story.
For many years, Belceboo and his many children have been left forgotten in the depths of The Witch of the Sea. Now, he has the chance to send his favorite daughter Bel to the outside, where she will serve the captain as the new aura cleaner.
The aura is a substance that stems from impurities of the soul. Wherever anxiety, heartbreak or traumatic memories are involved, aura will always sprout. Although for most people it represents something unpleasant and even threatening, for demons it’s just a delicacy.
Before parting, Belceboo grants Bel a final gift: the Ukoback gong-shield, an old family heirloom capable of disrupting and absorbing aura.
To the passengers, Bel is restoring the ship to its former glory, but in secret, she is setting in motion a plan to free her family from their imprisonment.
Bel’s Fanfare gameplay revolves around the gong-shield and its many mechanics, but it’s mainly composed of deep exploration, puzzle-solving and combat.
You must explore the many (hidden) rooms of the Witch of the Sea, bask in its glorious past and uncover its (unsettling) past history. Every area is carefully crafted with attention to detail and a nostalgic touch.
Sometimes, you’ll find a persistent aura that you can only fight in expressive bullet hell arenas with surprises at every stage. Culminate the experience of these encounters with stunning boss battles set inside the spirit of passengers and put their stories into a resolution.
“From Kiki’s Delivery Service to Spirited Away”
Bel’s Fanfare is the most different game we have ever created, especially when compared to all our previous releases. This is simply a reflection of the new phase the team is in, which we began to openly share with the announcement of Elusive last year.
This does not mean that we will never again develop quiet, cozy games like Summer in Mara, Deiland Pocket Planet, or Mika and the Witch’s Mountain, nor that all of our (hopefully many) future developments will feature combat and more “serious” settings.
We are simply continuing to be ourselves, creating the adventures that we feel most affinity for at any given moment, with the privilege of remaining independent so that we can experiment and continue to expand our skills and horizons.
Our references remain clear: the Zelda saga, Nintendo’s most nostalgic era, and, of course, Studio Ghibli. It’s just now we feel more like “Spirited Away” than “Kiki’s Delivery Service.”
Hope this has sparked your attention and that you want to join us on this journey!
We will be revealing more content in the coming weeks, as well as the most exclusive rewards of the campaign, which will include both digital and physical content.
Remember to join the Chibig Discord server to see more exclusive content and share great moments with other players, talk about games, and much more.
Have a good raid!