Games have a behavior of putting the participant at their centre. Their worlds and the characters in them revolve round you: you’re the chosen one, the one particular person able to saving the day. You may need extraordinary talents, and be a determine of legend – or no less than one within the making. That isn’t essentially a barrier to telling an important story, and it’s half and parcel of the ability fantasy that many video games search to supply. Nevertheless, it does imply that when one thing comes alongside that subverts that typical relationship it captures my consideration.
Storyseeker is a brief, free exploration recreation the place dev Miles Aijala describes your position as “more of a historian than a hero”. I’ve simply spent half an hour pottering round its surreal world of ghosts, giants and weasels, and I reckon you should do the same.
The extra I let you know about it, the much less you’ll have to find for your self – which type of defeats the purpose of taking part in “a minimalist narrative experiment driven by your curiosity”, to make use of Miles’s phrases once more. So for those who’re already on board, I’d suggest skipping the remainder of this publish and just jumping straight in.
For those who nonetheless want extra convincing or simply can’t assist themselves, I’ll let you know about a number of of the issues I noticed in simply the primary 5 minutes. You’re free to wander in whichever path you want, so I made a decision to enterprise West into a wierd, psychedelic panorama. The floor grew to become laced with swirling colors that prompted the music to swap to discordant jarring at any time when my toes touched them, and I started to make out nightmarish figures making an attempt to claw their approach out of the mess.
I stumbled right into a damaged industrial city, populated by ghosts and apparently beneath siege from cloud-like serpents. An indication within the floor warned me to watch out for ghosts, whereas one other one positioned close by instructed me to be variety to them. This is a world filled with such juxtapositions: one individual is perhaps holding a sci-fi gizmo in a single hand, whereas an quaint tee-pee and campfire sit simply metres away. Those screaming figures paint an image of anguish, calamity and terror, whereas that enormous turtle from the header picture swims merrily on his approach, prime hat and all.
There is a aim of kinds, for those who select to pursue it. Glowing statues may be discovered throughout the panorama, which name you in the direction of them with an ethereal buzzing noise. Those statues speak to you: one may make a cryptic assertion in regards to the pursuit of sunshine, whereas one other will ask you to say hello to its neighbour.
I attempted to cease taking part in so I can write this publish a number of occasions, solely to be tempted on by the subsequent factor. I couldn’t resist following a path to the temple of the door snakes, or exploring a city constructed on prime of… really, I’ve already described an excessive amount of. I’ll simply say that everytime you like, you’ll be able to press escape to pitch your tent, calm down and finish the sport. The remaining display screen (or no less than the one I acquired) is a map that reveals you ways the world matches collectively, and divulges all of the locations that you simply may need missed. There are mysteries each broad and small that I’m but to unravel, and you’ll guess I’ll be returning to them this night.
One thing more: on Miles’s Tumblr, I discovered somebody asking him if he had any recommendations on the best way to create a world as vibrant and intriguing as Storyseeker’s. Here’s his recommendation, which is each helpful in its personal proper and a cool perception into how the sport acquired made:
“The greatest trick is to maintain asking questions. Most of the worldbuilding in Storyseeker got here from more and more advanced explanations for a single drawing. Like, cool, right here’s an oasis that appears like an enormous footprint. But what made that footprint? Maybe an enormous residing statue. Where did it come from? Who constructed it? Where did they go and why did they fall? What if somebody constructed a city on prime of the physique? Why there? Etc, advert infinitum.
“Also, logistics questions. Where do the weasel priests get the dye for their crimson robes? What material might a folk living in lavender grasslands make their roofs from? What do people eat in different parts of the world?”
Storyseeker is free on Itch.io.
Ta to Paolo Pedercini for pointing this out.
