Night in the Woods

Night in the Woods

Game soundtrack art
Developer(s) Infinite Fall
Alec Holowka
Scott Benson
Writer(s) Bethany Hockenberry
Composer(s) Alec Holowka
Engine Unity
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
OS X
Linux
PlayStation 4
Release date(s)
  • : 10 January 2017[1]
Genre(s) Adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Night in the Woods is an upcoming single-player adventure video game for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, and PlayStation 4. It is being developed by Infinite Fall, a studio founded by game designer Alec Holowka, and animator/illustrator Scott Benson. It is an exploration game focused primarily on story in which players control a cat named Mae, who recently dropped out of college and has returned to her hometown to find unexpected change. It was funded via crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, where it eventually earned over 400% of its US$50,000 funding goal.[2]

In December 2014, Holowka and Benson, along with co-writer Bethany Hockenberry, released a companion game to Night in the Woods titled Lost Constellation.[3]

Gameplay

As Mae, players run, jump, and learn other mechanics that allow them to explore Possum Springs, a town populated by various anthropomorphic animals. Benson describes the key actions for the player are "explore, converse, see and touch", while Holowka describes their approach as "narrative-focused" rather than "gameplay-first".[4] Players will also make decisions that affect the course of the story, though Benson has said "It's more like 'do you hang out with this person?' Okay, cool. That person might not know you as well by the end of the game, but this person you hung out with, you're going to get to see their storyline."[5]

Story

Mae, an only child, has returned home to Possum Springs, where times have changed since the closing of its coal mines. Now living in her parents' attic, she discovers she possesses certain paranormal abilities, and uncovers a dark mystery that leads her into the nearby woods. Mae's friends include Bea, a cigarette-smoking alligator; Mae's best friend Gregg, a fox; and Gregg's partner, a bear named Angus. Paste describes the themes covered as "mental illness, depression, the stagnancy of the middle and lower classes, and the slow death of small town America."[6]

Development

Night in the Woods was announced on October 22, 2013, on Kickstarter. Holowka and Benson set a US$50,000 funding goal, which was reached in only 26 hours.[7] The project eventually earned over US$200,000 in crowdfunding. The additional funding allowed Infinite Fall to hire animator Charles Huettner to create additional animations, and for Infinite Ammo and game developer Adam Saltsman to create a roguelike that is playable within Night in the Woods. While Benson believed adding further stretch goals would result in additional backers, Infinite Fall limited the amount of stretch goals to avoid scope creep.[8] Benson names Chris Ware, Mike Mignola, Mary Blair and Richard Scarry as influences on his work on Night in the Woods.[9]

Soundtrack

Developer Alec Holowka is creating the soundtrack for Night in the Woods. A preview album consisting of four tracks from the game is currently available via Bandcamp.[10] Holowka names DIIV as a big influence on the game's score.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Update #55". 2016-10-26. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  2. ↑ "Kickstarter, Night in the Woods project page". 2013-11-22. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  3. ↑ "Lost Constellation". itch.io. 2014-12-31. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  4. ↑ Davis Cos (2014-05-01). "The charming, melancholy Night in the Woods picks up where Gone Home left off". Kill Screen. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  5. ↑ Matulef, Jeffrey (2014-06-25). "Night in the Woods is like Gone Home, in third-person, with talking animals". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  6. ↑ Garrett Martin and Jon Irwin (2015-06-22). "The 10 Best Videogames We Played at E3 2015". Paste. Retrieved 2015-05-09.
  7. ↑ "FULLY FUNDED! Also, stretch goals? Consoles? Linux?". 2013-10-24. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  8. ↑ Ben Kuchera (2013-11-12). "The goals that refused to stretch: Why Night in the Woods said no to Kickstarter tradition". The Penny Arcade Report. Archived from the original on 2013-12-11. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  9. 1 2 Kris Ligman (2013-12-02). "Q&A: How Night in the Woods taps into a real sense of community". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  10. ↑ "Night in the Woods Preview". Bandcamp. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
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