Them’s Fightin’ Herds is poised to bring ‘hoovesticuffs’ to gaming

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is a bit of a cultural phenomenon. An outsider could be forgiven for thinking that the “brony” fan community is being ironic, but the 2012 documentary showed that some of these folks are drop-dead serious about their enthusiasm for the equine cartoon. A group of mega-bronies tried to get a 2D brawling game made based on the My Little Pony property called Fighting is Magic, but it was quickly shut down by Hasbro, the legal owners of the IP. Mane6, the developers, remained undaunted and in the spirit of the show, turned lemons into hay. They got with Lauren Faust, the creator of the Friendship is Magic cartoon characters, and came up with Them’s Fightin’ Herds. It’s a fighting game with original pony-ish characters. This is how we got from a 1980’s carton reboot to a game about cutesy reindeer and cows facing off in combat.

What if you’re not a brony, and you’re not convinced that Them’s Fightin’ Herds will have the chops to pull this off? Lab Zero, the makers of Skullgirls, licensed their engine for use in Mane6’s game. On that point at least, you can rest easy knowing the foundation of the game has the horsepower (sorry) to pull the concept. Them’s Fightin’ Herds is currently seeking funding on Indiegogo and will launch for PC sometime in 2017.