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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]
