If Limbo Was More Surreal: ‘O (The Experience)’ Teaser Trailer

A silhouetted puzzle platformer may not be the most original game idea in the world, but we can’t deny that upon finding the teaser trailer for O (The Experience) we were quite mesmerized. The painted backgrounds make for a very moody impression and one that soon leaked into fascination as the layers of surreality played out before us. The animation on the main character isn’t the best but for a student project, O certainly impresses.

We were disappointed to not find a website for O, but were pleased to receive a prompt reply from the developers about the game, which both satisfied our need to know more and provoked further questions to be asked. Currently they attend ESNE Videogames in Madrid, Spain and the concept of their game is very intriguing, especially when combined with what’s on display.

You wake up in a cold swamp while drifting atop a filthy raft. You have no idea of your whereabouts and your sister clutches on to you, scared. You need to escape. As you travel, you’ll move through beautiful forests, inky landscapes and climb huge mountains. This is a world of fantasy and surrealism though, so you’ll also pass through doors that lead to unreal encounters; flying trains in the clouds and huge rooms full of clocks that move with time for instance.

Whatever “O” is, it awaits you according to the developers. They describe the game’s main mechanic as “turning the world”, which is as integral to the puzzle solving as the relationship between the boy and his sister. When And Yet It Moves was brought up for comparison to this central mechanic, they said that it is quite like that but only in 90 degree portions. When considering the game overall, they say that it combines elements and ideas from Limbo, Shadow of the Colossus and ICO; that much seems pretty obvious.

O (The Experience) will be released in June for web browsers, we just hope that the game matches up to the promise it shows. There’s no website or anywhere else to find more information about the game at the moment, except the teaser trailer below.

Valuing gameplay and innovation over everything, Chris has a keen eye for the most obscure titles unknown to man and gets a buzz from finding fantastic games that are not getting enough love. Chris Priestman, Editor-in-Chief of IGM

IndieGameMag - IGM