Incline Strangeland - new adventure game from Wormwood Studios

[bertram_tung]

How's the testing going? Totally hyped for this release.

 

[Dualnames]

It's going pretty good, we're improving the game in major ways daily, which is honestly wonderful!

 

[Wulfric Pinewood]

I only hope you will be releasing adventure games till 2050 at least.

 

[MRY]

At this rate, that may be when we release Strangeland. :D

 

[MRY]

Just played through the current build. There are still a few problem areas we've identified (the finale is a mess, but we really haven't spent any time getting it right, I'm sure we'll figure it out), but I'm feeling cautiously optimistic. Though I do think it is reasonably likely that the game will have like 3.5 hours of playing time (with some modest replayability) for anyone who reads reasonably quickly and can manage puzzles. That is largely because we have a lot of conveniences, like double clicking to instantly leave a room, and have tried not to have time-wasting design decisions like deliberately requiring the player to walk from A->Z->A->Z over and over within the same puzzle chain.

[EDIT:

To be clear, "3.5 hours of playing time" was a groan of existential dread and a warning, not a selling point. I had always figured that we would get at least one hour of play time for year of development, but apparently not.]

 

[Verylittlefishes]

Just played through the current build. There are still a few problem areas we've identified (the finale is a mess, but we really haven't spent any time getting it right, I'm sure we'll figure it out), but I'm feeling cautiously optimistic. Though I do think it is reasonably likely that the game will have like 3.5 hours of playing time (with some modest replayability) for anyone who reads reasonably quickly and can manage puzzles. That is largely because we have a lot of conveniences, like double clicking to instantly leave a room, and have tried not to have time-wasting design decisions like deliberately requiring the player to walk from A->Z->A->Z over and over within the same puzzle chain.

[EDIT:

To be clear, "3.5 hours of playing time" was a groan of existential dread and a warning, not a selling point. I had always figured that we would get at least one hour of play time for year of development, but apparently not.]

It took me about 6-7 hours to finish Primordia (and I've cheated with some puzzles because I'm stupid), will the Strangeland be really shorter than Primordia or is 3,5 hours just "core time" for finishing?

 

[MRY]

Apparently it will be shorter. I cant really determine why. A Primordia speedrun can be completed slightly faster than I can speedrun SL, which suggests that maybe the difference lies in cutscenes and dialogues.

 

[Tom Selleck]

Add backtracking, boom: 10 hours +

 

[bertram_tung]

i'm fine with short games as long as it's good. i like games that respect my time
i usually take longer than most in a game though so if you're saying 3.5-4 hours then i'll probably take 5 or 6 which is fine for me

 

[MRY]

I think the game also has at least one replay in it, if one is willing to replay adventures, in that there are several places where you can solve obstacles in different ways, and we're going to have both a commentary track and an "annotation" mode -- the latter will basically have what amount to on-screen footnotes explaining the game's various references. So playing it through a second time while seeing that stuff might be appealing to some.

 

[Daedalos]

Short but good always triumphs long and boring.

Good and long games are fucking rare.

Fallout is fucking short in most todays standards and even back then, and its' EXcellent for what it does.

 

[MRY]

While I realize this group is not necessarily indicative of generic consumers, could you let me know any thoughts on this Steam store text?

Short description:

In this point-and-click adventure by Primordia's developer, explore a surreal carnival in hopes of saving a doomed woman and unraveling your past. Match wits with a mismade mermaid, a living furnace, and others, solve multipath puzzles, uncover secrets—all while hunted and haunted by the Dark Thing.

Long description:

A man awakes in an otherworldly carnival and watches a golden-haired woman hurl herself down a bottomless well for his sake. He seeks empty answers from mocking ravens, an eyeless scribe, a living furnace, a mismade mermaid, and many more who dwell within the park. All the while, something awful screeches from the top of a towering roller-coaster, and he knows that until he destroys this Dark Thing, the woman will keep jumping, falling, and dying, over and over again....

Summary
Strangeland is a classic point-and-click adventure and the follow-up to our fan-acclaimed first game, Primordia. For almost a decade, we've been working on a worthy successor to Primordia, learning from our loyal and thoughtful players what aspects worked in that game and which did not. In Strangeland, we have built on three key pillars from our past work: (1) beautiful pixel art; (2) rich, thematic story-telling and world-building; and (3) challenging puzzles with multiple solutions and integrated hints for stumped players. We have tried once again to build a world, and a game, that will engage player's imagination and critical thinking, one that weaves in philosophy, humor, and pathos.

Key Features

• Approximately five hours of gameplay, replayable thanks to different choices, different puzzle solutions, and different endings
• Breathtaking pixel art in twice Primordia's resolution (640x360—party like it's 1999!)
• Dozens of rooms to explore, with variant versions as the carnival grows ever more nightmarish
• An eccentric cast, including a sideshow freak, a telepathic starfish, an animatronic fortune-teller, and a 10-foot teratoma
• A non-linear design with puzzles offering multiple solution paths (e.g., sharp-shooting or electrical engineering) and multiple endings
• A rich, thematic story about identity, loss, and self-doubt
• Integrated, in-character hint system
• Hours of developer commentary and an "annotation mode" (providing on-screen explanations for the references woven throughout the game)

 

[agris]

MRY it reads well, but is Strangeland in the same universe as Primordia? If so, that connection should be made in the short and long descriptions.

Regardless, I would break up this sentence into two.

Match wits with a mismade mermaid, a living furnace, and others, solve multipath puzzles, uncover secrets—all while hunted and haunted by the Dark Thing.

Match wits with a mismade mermaid, a living furnace, and others. Solve multipath puzzles, uncover secrets—all while hunted and haunted by the Dark Thing.

 

[V_K]

I would say that for something that is not its direct sequel it refers to Primordia way too much. It's unlikely that fans of Primordia need to be sold on your new game, while it might deter new players who might think that they need to play Primordia first.
I would rewrite the first sentence in the short description as "Explore a surreal carnival in hopes of saving a doomed woman and unraveling your past in this point-and-click adventure by Primordia's developer." Similarly, I would prefer the summary to describe the new game first, and make the reference to Primordia after.

 

[MRY]

agris Not same setting. I'm not sure breaking the sentences like that works, since the "hunted and haunted" modifies all three prior things, and it's not clear why "solve" and "uncover" wouldn't each be own sentence. Semi-colons, maybe?

@V_K You would think, but the majority of consumers apparently think WEG developed Primordia, and having it first probably has some SEO benefits. I think our primary "separate us from the pack" feature is that we made Primordia. But I'm curious to get others' views. Your reaction certainly fits with my own views of how I would prefer to structure it, but I'm not sure my preference (or yours) maximizes marketing success.

 

[agris]

Semicolon then makes sense, given the structure you’re describing.

 

[Infinitron]

Of course you should mention Primordia at the beginning. Just don't write it twice in the introduction. "For almost a decade, we've been working on a worthy successor" is enough.

 

[MRY]

Revised text, based on comments so far. (Semi-colons replacing commas in to short description, no need to repost that):

Strangeland is a classic point-and-click adventure that integrates a compelling narrative with challenging puzzles. For almost a decade, we've been working on a worthy successor to Primordia, learning from our loyal and thoughtful players what they enjoyed most about our earlier game. In Strangeland, we have built on three key pillars: (1) beautiful pixel art; (2) rich, thematic story-telling and world-building; and (3) logical puzzles with multiple solutions and integrated hints for stumped players. We sought to once again build a world, and a game, that will engage players' imagination and critical thinking while weaving in philosophy, humor, and pathos.

 

[V_K]

You would think, but the majority of consumers apparently think WEG developed Primordia, and having it first probably has some SEO benefits. I think our primary "separate us from the pack" feature is that we made Primordia. But I'm curious to get others' views. Your reaction certainly fits with my own views of how I would prefer to structure it, but I'm not sure my preference (or yours) maximizes marketing success.

At the very least I would split the first sentence in two - i.e. "A new point-and-click adventure by Primordia's developer. Explore a surreal carnival in hopes of saving a doomed woman and unraveling your past. Match wits..." etc. I just don't like the rhythm of it the way it is.

Fake Edit:

Revised text

That works a lot better IMO.

 

[agris]

Are the integrated hints optional? If so you could say “.. solutions and (optional) integrated...” or even leave out the parentheses.

 

[MRY]

I'll add "optional." You call via an in-game phone, something that sadly Thimbleweed Park added about three years into our development.

 

[MRY]

At the very least I would split the first sentence in two - i.e. "A new point-and-click adventure by Primordia's developer. Explore a surreal carnival in hopes of saving a doomed woman and unraveling your past. Match wits..." etc. I just don't like the rhythm of it the way it is.

This might be right. What do others think?

 

[agris]

I'll add "optional." You call via an in-game phone, something that sadly Thimbleweed Park added about three years into our development.

While sounding trivial, some especially crusty gamers may appreciate knowing this. Not that I know any of those

 

[MRY]

Obviously, there are some integrated non-optional hints in the way they exist in all adventures, "This fishing line is much too short..." fail quips and so on. But the actual hint system is like it was with clicking on Crispin in Primordia, only you dial 0 ("If you need assistance...") on the payphone.

It would be tragic if we lost all the nu-players with "challenging" and all the old-players with "integrated hints." :D

 

[agris]

I’m certainly not trying to setup a Solomon’s choice here! The optional caveat will help though, and genre tropes that may technically deviate from marketing copy will be forgotten (or never even recognized) by those who would care about the opt-in nature of a hints system in a PnC, anyway.

Also, reviewing text on mobile must be a discrete level of hell. While I’m glad this stop for a tire patch has potentially yielded Wormwood a pittance more sales, I cannot fathom how some edit documents and comment on slides in this manner.