One might think “Fighting is Magic,” a fighter game based on “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” would be an odd juxtaposition of the show’s pally theme and the pound-to-the-ground mechanics of such a title. Hasbro was none too keen to hear of such a possibility, so after catching wind of fan developer Mane6’s project, issued a cease-and-desist.

The project, which had garnered an Internet following, did not die, however. Rather, it turned its creative liberties to an original project, “Them’s Fightin’ Herds.” Because of its large following, Mane6 gathered the attention of Lab Zero, developer of Skullgirls. The new game now runs on a Lab Zero engine.

After the cease-and-desist, Mane6 also received assistance from the creative director of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Lauren Faust. Faust collaborated with Mane6, providing original character designs for characters such as Arizona the Cow and Paprika the Llama.

Them’s Fightin’ Herds began its Indiegogo campaign this morning in the hopes to raise $436,000 to finish development of the game. In ten hours, the game had already raised 18% of that goal, $78,728.

Featuring four-button fighting systems, the game also boasts a magic system, a musical score in which the BGM changes to reflect the heat and intensity of the current battle, netplay, a ranked/unranked option, and a visual lobby.

The game takes place in the fictional world of Foenum, where four-legged creatures such as cows, alpacas, and reindeers, built great civilizations and prospered. However, carnivorous, toothed-and-clawed mammals called Predators routinely preyed on them, until the Predators were banished to a magical realm and sealed away, much like Ganondorf in the Sacred Realm.

Also like Ganondorf, these Predators escaped, and now descend upon Foenum with a vengeance. To stop them, each race of Foenum has sent their best warrior, a Key Seeker, to find the enchanted key to lock them back in. Unfortunately, only one Key Seeker can be the Key Keeper… so, naturally, they must bash each others’ brains out to win that right and save the day.

For the official Indiegogo campaign, which has more detailed information about the game’s progress and gameplay mechanics, please see the following link: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/them-s-fightin-herds#/story

Dragonlord Stephi : Very interesting article! I remember seeing things about Fighting is Magic, and it's C&D order. Which stuck me as odd, that game wasn't the worst thing fans have made. But I had no idea they continued under a different name!
"Them's Fightin' Herds" made me laugh a little when I first saw it. But it's good to see all the work didn't go to waste. Although I didn't expect Lab Zero's involvement at all either. Although I have yet to play Skullgirls for myself, it seems to be a pretty solid fighter.
I also had no idea Faust herself was in on it! Although in the past it's been clear she's been in on a lot of the fandom, and she likes that MLP has the following that it does. Now that I look at the designs, I wonder if her husband has helped in any way too. The artstyle looks like a mesh of MLP, and Wander Over Yonder, shows the two of them work on. I can't wait to see how Fightin' Herds turns out!