Journey Beyond the Edge of the World (in dev)

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An immersive puzzle adventure game with music as the storyteller

Set on a heavily damaged fishing trawler floating in an unknown ocean, the player embarks on a journey discovering past, present and future of the ship and its sole survivor: the unnamed fisherman. The game’s mysterious story is told in a unique way through five narrated music tracks. Each of them is unlocked by solving increasingly complex item-based puzzles – with the game world reflecting the events depicted in the music.

With a distinctive art style blending low-poly and pixelated visuals with a realistic ocean simulation and adaptive spatial audio, the game immerses the player in a surreal adventure to the edge of the world – and beyond.

Gameplay

Players can freely roam and interact with numerous objects on the ship, uncovering secrets and story fragments.

Setting the ship’s radio channel activates a story sequence and a corresponding puzzle, which – as a nod to classic point & click adventure games – involves utilising all kinds of items scattered around the ship in creative ways.

Upon completing a puzzle, the music track for that story sequence gets unlocked, advancing the story. The player can listen to the track, narrated with a radio message from the unnamed fisherman, while taking in the events happening in and around the ship.

After a story sequence has ended, the player chooses when to advance the story and how much time they spend exploring in between.

Gameplay features

• Nonlinear exploration of the entire ship
• Most objects and many parts of the ship can be interacted with
• Layered storytelling through environment, items and narrated music
• Item-based puzzle solving to advance the story: finding, combining and using items, fixing and interacting with electronic devices and interfaces

Visual language

• First Person
• Low-poly pixelated art style with extensive post-processing effects
• Atmospheric volumetric lighting & fog
• Visual effects to guide the player
• Realistic ocean, time of day and weather simulation

Sound Experience

• Adaptive, spatial audio both to enhance immersion and as a puzzle mechanic (e.g. sounds leading to specific items) – works even on regular consumer headphones
• All in-game sounds are meticulously crafted using a combination of digital and analog techniques
• Five original electronic music tracks with voice acting, created with a range of analog and digital synthesizers & instruments