Developer(s) Jason Roberts Initial release date 2017 Genre Puzzle video game | Composer(s) Joel Corelitz Publisher Annapurna Pictures Mode Single-player video game | |
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Platforms Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Macintosh operating systems Similar Exogenesis: Perils of Rebirth, Kaio: King of Pirates, Scivelation, What Remains of Edith Finch, Barkley 2 | ||
Gorogoa demo
Gorogoa is a puzzle video game in development by Jason Roberts and published by Annapurna Interactive for Microsoft Windows, OS X, iOS, and Android. The Windows and Mac versions will be released in 2017 with the mobile version some time after.
Contents
Gorogoa reveal trailer
Gameplay
In Gorogoa players are presented with four images in a grid and must stack, combine, and explore each image to find a connection between them in order to advance and open new areas. Players are not guided through the process, as the game contains no language, and must work out what they need to do to finish each level.
The plot involves a boy seeking an encounter with a divine monster, exploring themes of spirituality and religion.
Development
Jason Roberts began development of a card game inspired by interactive comics in his spare time while working full-time, but later decided the style was too complex. Following the success of indie games such as Braid, Roberts realised he could combine his love of art and video games, despite knowing very little about how to develop them. Development on the game began in 2011. Roberts adopted the title Gorogoa from a name he invented for an imaginary creature in his youth. He chose it for the game because it was not part of any existing language; wanting the game to be accessible to anyone, regardless of language, and thus choosing not to add any to the game.
Gorogoa is written in a custom-built game engine created by Roberts in Java, and all illustrations are hand drawn by Roberts. Roberts cites David Roberts, Gustave Doré, Christopher Manson, and Chris Ware as influences to his art style. The game's audio is composed by Joel Corelitz, who also composed the audio for 2012 video game The Unfinished Swan, and Eduardo Ortiz Frau is the game's sound designer.
The game was revealed at the 2012 Indiecade and is planned for release on PC in 2017 with a mobile release to follow, though a short demo version is currently playable. Roberts says the game has taken much longer to develop than he anticipated, in part because as his drawing skills grew he kept going back to re-draw earlier scenes.
In December 2016 Annapurna Pictures announced that it would begin publishing games as Annapurna Interactive, with Gorogoa being one of its first published games.
Reception
Gorogoa won the Visual Design Award at the 2012 Indiecade, and in 2013 won the Good Game Club top prize. The game also won the 2014 Independent Games Festival Excellence in Visual Art award for which it also received honorable mentions in the Design and Narrative categories.