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Explore Alaska Native stories with Never Alone's ice climbers
In a week stuffed with all-guns-blazing, triple-A new releases, something like Never Alone is a distinct anomaly. Out now on PS4, Xbox One and PC, it combines challenging puzzle-platforming with a story infused with Iñupiat folklore that comes direct from the source. Co-developers Upper One Games and E-Line Media collaborated with "nearly 40 members" of the Alaska Native community, including elders and storytellers, and the project was funded by the Cook Inlet Tribal Council to ensure its cultural authenticity. The end result is a 2D platformer in which an Iñupiat girl and an Arctic fox struggle against an immense, eternal blizzard as they climb and clamber together through the harsh Alaskan landscape.
Never Alone blends clever platforming with cultural insight
I like to think of Never Alone as a less depressing version of 2011's indie hit, Limbo. It features similar environment-based puzzle-platforming in an unforgiving world, but its buddy-system mechanics give an encouraging sense of optimism throughout. This isn't to say that you won't be challenged in Never Alone. You'll fail its platforming sequences frequently, and its puzzles are suitably vexing. It's a clever and solid entry in the genre, and its focus on Alaska Native culture gives it a weight and purpose beyond its inventive gameplay.
Never Alone finds a companion in November
Never Alone, the Arctic platformer that tells stories passed down by Alaska Natives, will launch digitally on November 4 for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Developed by Upper One Games, the studio created by the Alaskan non-profit Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Never Alone will debut for $14.99. The developer also offered a new trailer that discusses the game's inspirations and flashes bits of its gameplay. The game stars Nuna and her fox companion, who rely on one another to survive eight chapters that survey "treacherous ice floes, Arctic tundra, ice caves, boreal forests, cliff-built coastal villages" and more. Never Alone is inspired by Iñupiat folklore, including characters from stories handed down through generations of its people such as the Blizzard Man, Sky People and Manslayer. Players can switch between Nuna and the fox to traverse the side-scrolling landscape on their own or team up with a friend to overcome puzzles with each character's unique abilities. [Image: E-Line Media]
Nuna and her cute Arctic fox are 'Never Alone' in Alaska
Never Alone tells the tales passed down among Alaska Native storytellers in a mystical, frostbitten, platforming world, and it's on its way to PS4, Xbox One and PC in the fall, priced at $15. Never Alone puts players in the shoes of Nuna, a young Iñupiaq girl, and an adorable Arctic fox. Nuna and her fox friend work with the environment to traverse icy landscapes and outrun big beasties. The game has one- and two-player modes, both cooperative – in solo play, you can switch between Nuna and the fox. Never Alone comes from Upper One Games, an initiative of the Cook Inlet Tribal Council in Anchorage, Alaska, and publisher E-Line Media in New York. "Featuring imagery and themes drawn directly from Iñupiat and other Alaska Native cultures, Never Alone features striking visuals, emphasizes the sensibilities and perspective of these indigenous Arctic people and requires players to work cooperatively to succeed in challenging and harsh environments," Upper One Games said in a press release. [Image: E-Line Media]
Sharing legends with the world in Never Alone, a game inspired by Alaskan Native communities
While museums and organizations lock the industry's most important works behind glass to preserve their memory, development and publishing partners Upper One Games and E-Line Media are using video games to help preserve the legends of a people. In the upcoming "atmospheric puzzle platformer" Never Alone, players live out the legends and stories passed down for generations on the Alaskan Native community. Though the companies want their game to help educate the world about native culture while being entertained, Never Alone is also being positioned to help reignite passion and preserve the legends within the native communities throughout Alaska.
