simogo
Latest
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes preview: This may be my GOTY
Simogo knows how to make a damn fine puzzle game.
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, by Sayonara Wild Hearts devs, comes out on May 16
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, by Sayonara Wild Hearts devs, releases on May 19. It’ll be available for the Switch and PC via Steam.
Simogo tries to explain the mysteries of ‘Lorelei and the Laser Eyes’
“We had the title which we really liked, and from there we have been trying to figure out what laser eyes are," Simogo co-founder Simon Flesser told Engadget.
'Sayonara Wild Hearts' studio Simogo's next game is an atmospheric murder mystery
'Lorelei and the Laser Eyes' is coming to Nintendo Switch and Steam in 2023.
‘Sayonara Wild Hearts’ is a neon-filled ‘pop album video game’
Cult Swedish developer Simogo is making its first game for the Nintendo Switch in Sayonara Wild Hearts, a glam arcade title that dances to its own musical beat. The trailer dropped during The Game Awards on Thursday evening, serving as an introduction to the game's eclectic cast of characters based on tarot cards.
'Bedtime Stories for Awful Children,' a free ebook from 'Year Walk' devs
The dark, freezing woods of Sweden are the perfect breeding ground for terrifying tales of naughty children who get what they deserve. This week, Simogo -- the developer of beautifully macabre game Year Walk, and mysterious narrative experiences Device 6 and The Sailor's Dream -- released a free, illustrated ebook collecting a handful of five re-tooled, scary Swedish folk tales. It's called Year Walk Bedtime Stories for Awful Children, and it's available in English, French, Spanish, German and Italian. "We think obnoxious children all over the world deserve dark nightmares," Simogo writes.
Macabre indie puzzler 'Year Walk' coming to Wii U this year
While the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One get most of the attention when it comes to indie games, Nintendo's Wii U has quietly built a solid stable of them as well. The latest? Creepy puzzler Year Walk from Swedish studio Simogo. Yeah, it's appeared on a number of other platforms before, but the company promises that the version coming to the Wii U is no lazy port -- it's been entirely rebuilt with the console's unique characteristics in mind by the folks at Dakko Dakko. For instance, the GamePad is used extensively throughout be it for note taking or accessing the game's encyclopedia and map. You can use motion controls in conjunction with analog sticks to look around, and Simogo says that while that might scare some folks off, it's actually pretty chill and the required input movements are subtle.
Simogo launches The Sensational December Machine on PC, Mac
Hot on the heels of launching its last narrative-driven game roughly one month ago, Simogo offered another game today for free, The Sensational December Machine. The Device 6 developer just teased the PC and Mac game on its Twitter account yesterday before offering it as a holiday gift to its fans today. Simogo's last game, The Sailor's Dream, was received rather well in our review and is available on iPad for $3.99. The Sensational December Machine is a "short interactive story about an inventor and her unusual new creation." The brief interactive story took three weeks to create and includes hand-drawn art and text as well as "dynamic music" that evolves alongside the story provided by Daniel Olsén, the composer for Device 6 and Year Walk. "We hope you'll snuggle up with this little seasonal, and very three-dimensional, tale in fullscreen mode," the developer added. "Perhaps with some good headphones, and a warm drink by your side." The Sensational December Machine can be downloaded through Simogo's website. [Image: Simogo]
On my iPad: The Sailor's Dream
This is On my iPad, a quick look at an iOS game we think you'll enjoy. When I was little, my favorite books were pop-up books, where you'd pull a tab or turn a dial and something would happen on the page: Knights would ride jauntily across the space to attack a dragon, or the sun would set and the moon would rise. It felt like the book was coming to life right in my hands, a tiny kind of magic. The Sailor's Dream is the modern evolution of that kind of storytelling, casting you in the role of storyteller as you pull at the seams and make the tale of a sailor and his lady love come to life. It's difficult to classify The Sailor's Dream as a game, per se, though it has some puzzle-ish elements to it. It is, first and foremost, a story, though one that relies on the player to do some exploration and discovery in order for it to be told. Upon opening The Sailor's Dream, you'll find yourself at sea, floating amongst several different islands. Swiping to either side allows you to select different islands, home to the Secret Lighthouse or the Faraway Ruins. A quick swipe up and you land on the island, free to follow the paths to its different locations, such as The Creaking Stairs or The Lost Hallway, by swiping in the corresponding direction. Some paths simply lead to lovely visuals, like a room filled with tiny, firefly lights or a geometric shape that warps the music when you tug on its points. Each island holds an important piece of the sailor's tale, and some islands hold even more, if you can figure out how to unlock their secrets.
Simogo's next mystery, The Sailor's Dream, arrives Nov. 6
Simogo, the developer behind Joystiq-favorite mobile mystery Device 6, has announced that it's next "game(-like project)," The Sailor's Dream, will launch on November 6. Little is known of The Sailor's Dream - Simogo has been purposefully quiet on the project, hoping fans will discover the game's nuances for themselves - but unlike Device 6, the game will not include typical adventure game puzzles. Instead, the game will be more focused on exploration and the unfolding story. "We hope it will leave you pondering and wondering and find reasons to talk about it with friends, and hopefully even return to it," Simogo explained. There's currently no price point attached to The Sailor's Dream. If it follows the same pricing scheme as Device 6, expect the iOS adventure to reach the App Store at $4. [Image: Simogo]
Device 6 dev Simogo politely teases The Sailor's Dream
Knowing that its fans would be wondering what's become of The Sailor's Dream after Simogo - the studio behind the elegantly crafted mobile hit Device 6 - first mentioned the game, the developers have written an explanation. "We'd like to explain a bit about the reasoning for us being so quiet about the project – because it's been a very deliberate choice from our side," states the blog entry. "We have a lot of fun features and elements in The Sailor's Dream, which we believe are unique, and exciting. And as much as we'd like to shout about how exciting we think they are, we've made a (tough!) decision to not talk about them before the release." Why? According to the blog entry, the developers at Simogo don't want to rob their fans of the wonder of discovering the game's quirks for the first time. They don't want to explain each last facet before players can see it for themselves. Still, the studio is not heartless. It hears the cries of fans yearning for more information, and has responded with the one-minute video found beyond the break. [Image: Simogo]
Device 6 developer drops anchor on The Sailor's Dream
The Sailor's Dream is a melancholic, introspective game that features a lot of writing – most likely good writing, considering developer Simogo's previous work – the open seas, a series of islands and a splintered story that you piece together in whichever order you see fit. The Sailor's Dream is in the same vein as Simogo's most recent games, Year Walk and Device 6, but the studio says it's softer and carries less of a classic challenge. "We're throwing out some more traditional game challenge-elements; in fact, The Sailor's Dream won't feature any puzzles at all," Simogo writes. "That doesn't mean you won't find playful things in the game, though – there are plenty of things to touch, play and tinker with. And it definitely doesn't mean that we want it to be easily digested! We hope it will leave you pondering and wondering and find reasons to talk about it with friends, and hopefully even return to it. It's a fractured story told in different ways, from different perspectives. When it comes to telling the story, we're drawing inspirations from both books, radio plays and even musicals." The trailer for The Sailor's Dream shows navigational coordinates over beautiful, seemingly hand-painted landmarks on an open sea, and a series of interactive objects. Text mentions a lonely girl exploring the ocean and perhaps a bit of love lost, but not forgotten: "Seal our love in ink forever, on my heart and on his arm." The final touch of gramophone music in the trailer is haunting. The Sailor's Dream launches on iOS in late 2014. [Images: Simogo]
Threes, Device 6 take home Apple Design Awards
Apple doled out its Design Awards earlier today, giving its stylish, pearl white nod to several games. Alongside lifestyle apps like Cinemagraph Pro and Sky Guide, Apple recognized Threes, Device 6, Blek, Monument Valley and Leo's Fortune for combining design and technology in "creative, compelling, and powerful ways." Apple praised each of the games, calling Threes "intuitive, charming, broadly appealing, and bewitchingly addictive." Device 6 was labeled "mesmerizing and immersive," Blek was said to engage both left and right hemispheres of the brain, and Monument Valley was compared to experiencing a museum. Finally, Leo's Fortune was hailed as "intricate and nuanced." Works for us. We just love having good games to play. [Image:Simogo]
Simogo teases a smashing giant game that will probably never exist
Simogo, the kooky developer behind Year Walk and Device 6, probably won't be able to turn Brisby & Donnovan into a full game, and that's a shame. Before starting Simogo, Simon Flesser and Magnus "Gordon" Gardeback worked on Brisby & Donnovan at Southend Interactive, a studio that no longer exists. Since Simogo doesn't own the idea, this adorable and creepy monster masher will most likely remain as it is in this prototype gameplay video, forever. "Anyway, It would be a shame for it to go unseen, so we wanted to take the opportunity to show you at least one little snippet of the fun and lovely things that were brewing inside Southend," Flesser writes. "Enjoy." Simogo isn't ready to talk about its next game yet, but the team is feeling good about it, Flesser says: "We're working and iterating on the idea of our next game a lot on the moment (and making really good progress; we already have something beautiful on device!)."
Sales results of App Store's first Indie Game Showcase revealed
Trying to stand out in the App Store is no easy feat, considering the number of games competing for attention and the inevitable flood of clones inspired by any successful venture. Smaller studios that lack the advertising budget of companies like EA or Ubisoft have an especially challenging time getting noticed, but last month Apple introduced the Indie Game Showcase, a promotion meant to lend more visibility to its highlighted titles. Gamasutra spoke with developers featured in the promotion to see how their titles benefited from the promotion. While Simon Flesser of Simogo, developer of Device 6, didn't share exact data, he noted that being featured has certainly been positive for the puzzling adventure novel. The studio's tweet from March 27, which falls within the running dates of the Indie Game Showcase, stated that Device 6 cleared 200,000 lifetime sales on the App Store. Other developers saw general boosts in downloads at the beginning of the promotion - Gauge, Game Atelier's free-to-try game of balancing meters as close to their threshold's edge as possible without going over, earned an average of 600 downloads a day. However, only three users in that daily average paid to unlock the rest of Gauge, resulting in an average of 7.3 euros earned per day. On a more general level, most developers saw an initial boost in downloads, but those sales spikes decayed quickly and rarely rippled to other efforts created by the studios. Chaotic Box's Frank Condello stated that the Showcase had "zero effect" on Chaotic's non-promoted titles and a "negligible" one on the free version of Critter Panic, its title in the Showcase. Critter Panic's promo status was also paired with a price drop in the month of March, but Condello said he hadn't seen any sales in the few days after the game was set back to $1.99. [Image: Simogo]
This box hides a new Device 6 mystery
Though the appearance of Device 6 at this year's Game Developers Conference is to be expected, the physical appearance of its stand in the independent games pavilion is ... well, that depends on how susceptible you are to mind control. The kiosk appears to be a spying, literal extension of the story in Device 6, which sees you – the subject of sorts – solving abstract puzzles in a surreal environment. The narrated mystery would often extend beyond the borders of your iPad, calling into question where the game really ended. A scattering of immovable "replica" iPhones on the stand asks: "Why wasn't the game on display? If there wasn't a game to play, then what was the purpose?" You may just find the (creepy) answer if you work your way through our gallery. And please close the box after you've completed the test. [Images: AOL]
PSA: Year Walk takes a stroll on Steam
Device 6 developer Simogo makes its Steam debut this week with Year Walk, a PC port of its acclaimed iOS first-person adventure game. Year Walk puts players on a vision quest through a dark forest, where they'll solve environmental puzzles and encounter mythical creatures from Swedish folklore. The upgraded Steam version includes new puzzles and in-game locations, along with new features like maps, a hint system and an integrated creature encyclopedia. Year Walk is available for $5.99. [Image: Simogo]
Year Walk's eerie Swedish scares creep onto Steam March 6
Swedish developer Simogo - they of Device 6 fame - have announced a release date for the PC incarnation of the spooky Year Walk: March 6. Originally released to iOS in February of 2013, Year Walk is a puzzle game focused on an old, bizarre Swedish folktale. As with all Simogo games, playing Year Walk is less like working your way through a game and more like interacting with a novel work of fiction, so explaining the mythology behind Year Walk would defeat its purpose. Just know that the above trailer is a valid reflection of the game's eerie tone, and the sort of snowbound, Scandinavian horror awaiting players in Year Walk. Instead of simply rehashing Year Walk for its PC debut, Simogo has added a number of new features to the game. These include additional areas to explore, new in-game puzzles, updated artwork, Steam achievement support and a comprehensive in-game encyclopedia which will offer players more information on the strange things they encounter in the game's darkened forests. [Image: Simogo]
Joystiq Top 10 of 2013: Device 6
Team Joystiq is barging into 2014 with a celebration of last year's best games. Keep reading throughout the week to see our assembly of ingenious indies and triple-A triumphs. Infused with a skewed 1960s spy-fiction flare, Device 6 intrigues as soon as the precisely styled opening credits slide across the screen. They shift aside to make way for a surreal mystery and an isolated protagonist, wandering through rooms and gardens that surprise, unsettle and connect in ways that don't quite make sense. Device 6 is a classic text adventure that augments its descriptions – and what you imagine from them – with creepy imagery and ingenious sound design. As a rickety radio plays in a distant room, hovering in your periphery like the buzz of an electrical cable overhead, Device 6 leads you up, down and through, implying tunnels and stairways in its twisting text. Every swipe is a step, and every literal turn of your tablet spirals you further into a test of cognition, orchestrated both by the game's designers and the rarely seen creators of your puppet's island prison.
Twenty developers you don't know, but should
Between consoles, PC, mobile and everything in between, there are so many games released today that it's impossible to keep up with everything that's coming out – and it's even harder to keep up with the studios behind them. Even with a gaming public that's grown accustomed to following big developers like Valve and small studios like Double Fine, countless other studios slide under the radar. In the interest of sifting a signal from the noise, the Joystiq crew has selected 20 developers that deserve your attention. These studios are making games you should play, and their future work should be highly anticipated. This list is by no means exhaustive, and we invite you to share your own favorites in the comments!
