One of our favorite developers around these parts is Philipp Stollenmayer, perhaps better known as Kamibox. Capable of making silly viral sensations like Bacon – The Game, Kamibox also has an incredible gift for designing poignant experiences like Sometimes You Die, incredibly well-designed puzzlers like Supertype and Squaredance, and genuinely innovative games like See/Saw which is a run and jump platformer without jumping. So because of these examples and more, we’re always excited to see what Kamibox is up to next. In this case it’s a new game called Song of Bloom, which Stollenmayer himself describes as “my (by far) most ambitious project yet." Song of Bloom is a bit difficult to explain. It’s described as an intense narrative puzzle game, and as Stollenmayer further explains, “Intense, as a mashup of styles and interactions, to mirror the protagonist’s emotional world. Narrative, as a playful comment on our culture, with all its benefits and mistakes." It also tells the story of a person that is hallucinating, and well, you can totally get that from the game’s trailer.
One of the neatest parts about Song of Bloom is that it features 18 different art styles, and can change rapidly from one to another. Stollenmayer literally created these art styles himself by doing clay animation, knitting, sketching, carving, and more. This surge of different styles is deliberate and is meant to “force a visual overkill and suck the player into the mind of the protagonist." The narrative also starts out pretty abstract but as you progress its various pieces all blend into a cohesive story by the end. Puzzle solving goes almost in the opposite direction, starting out with familiar touchscreen gestures and evolving into something that will require using the device in perhaps unexpected ways. Basically every little detail that has been described about Song of Bloom so far ticks all of my boxes, and this has instantly become something I can’t wait to experience. It’s not finished though, and so far Song of Bloom has no release window, but more details should be revealed soon and this is one we’ll definitely be watching out for.
One of the neatest parts about Song of Bloom is that it features 18 different art styles, and can change rapidly from one to another. Stollenmayer literally created these art styles himself by doing clay animation, knitting, sketching, carving, and more. This surge of different styles is deliberate and is meant to “force a visual overkill and suck the player into the mind of the protagonist." The narrative also starts out pretty abstract but as you progress its various pieces all blend into a cohesive story by the end. Puzzle solving goes almost in the opposite direction, starting out with familiar touchscreen gestures and evolving into something that will require using the device in perhaps unexpected ways. Basically every little detail that has been described about Song of Bloom so far ticks all of my boxes, and this has instantly become something I can’t wait to experience. It’s not finished though, and so far Song of Bloom has no release window, but more details should be revealed soon and this is one we’ll definitely be watching out for.