![]() With his sweater vest, bulging eyes and wary curiosity, he presents a startlingly normal counterpoint to all the weirdness around him. We're also, for the first time, greeted by a tousle-haired human protagonist. Still lovingly hand-drawn and unique, this time around we're treated to intricate Machinarium-esque pen-and-ink drawings but with more of a watercolour wash, creating a palette of soothing grey-blue and warm brown backgrounds, against which the occasional pools of light can really pop. In that spirit, all those maddeningly intricate puzzles, set up just in case a random stranger wanders down here, shouldn't even raise an eyebrow.Ĭompared to Amanita's previous work, the art style has gently evolved. Or live in a castle that mixes medieval stonework and stained glass with crumbling Victorian brickwork and part of an Egyptian tomb. They want you to explore and experience just for the sake of it, without getting hung up on why, exactly, anyone would build a robot dog that can moonlight as a bedroom cabinet. Why? Well, why not?Ĭreaks is a game that loves to ask "why not?" Indeed, Amanita Design seems to revel in creating gloriously bizarre worlds filled with eccentric life and beauty. Likewise, the jellyfish turn into globes of the world and the goats into chairs. That you can climb on to reach a ladder, if you need to. Yes, you read that right: flip a light switch and that snarling and snapping metal dog directly underneath will transform into a harmless wooden chest of drawers. Except these all have a Jekyll-and-Hyde existence, coming to life in the dark but hardening into furniture in the light. As if that weren't enough, they share their subterranean keep with all manner of eclectic creatures, from square-jawed metal dogs to glowing-eyed goats and floating air jellyfish. bird people? Human-sized bird people wearing frock coats, no less. And what could be more natural to find in an ancient castle hidden beneath the earth than. Looking down, you find yourself near the roof of an enormous cavern filled by a teetering, sprawling castle stretching up from impossibly far below. A colony of mole people, then? A little closer, but still no. What could possibly be down there? Are you about to meet the old ones from beyond the depths of space and time, lurking in the darkness to devour everyone and everything? Nope. Just as you're starting to think this was all a bad idea and maybe your coffee hasn't gone cold yet, the floor crumbles away, sending you tumbling onto the ladder, agonising inches from being able to clamber back onto the platform. Where could this go? Before long, the tunnel ends at a sheer drop and a rickety wooden ladder. So of course you do, grabbing your trusty flashlight and crawling through to find a short, brick-built tunnel on the other side. All you wanted was a bit of quiet time, but it seems your room has other ideas because the wallpaper starts peeling off the wall, revealing a hidden hatch that's just begging to be opened and explored. ![]() Then again, a few seconds later, sighing more heavily this time. Sighing, you get up and wiggle it back to life. Taking advantage of the late-evening peace, you're sitting at the worn-out desk in your cramped, lonely room, reading, drinking coffee and maybe contemplating the universe. The eccentric story isn't as involving as it might be, but that matters little when the journey is this magical. Best known for the quirky delights of Machinarium and the Samorost games, the indie Czech studio’s latest effort is their offbeat and charming take on a puzzle-platformer, filled to the brim with idiosyncratic creatures and satisfying challenges. ![]() In Amanita Design's Creaks, though, that's only the start of your adventure into their ramshackle wonderland. Or that they'd fill that castle with ingenious traps and robotic guard dogs just in case a curious human happened by. If, perhaps as a child, you've ever wished your house had a secret door or even a hidden room, I bet you never imagined it would lead to a whole new world full of talking birds playing shower-head trumpets and living in a giant, tumbledown underground castle. ![]()
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