Harold Halibut is a narrative exploration game that combines underwater atmosphere and self-reflective humor with a unique art style.Harold Halibut tells the tale of a clumsy lab-assistant and janitor who was born on a submerged spaceship that crash-landed on an alien planet made entirely of water. Never knowing what life was like on Earth, Harold spends much of his time daydreaming about what’s beyond the subterranean vessel in which he is bound. After spotting an unidentified swimming object, Harold becomes obsessed with uncovering the mystery behind this aquatic planet.
Wander around an underwater community that has formed after 200 years of enclosed space travel. Somehow stuck between it’s launch date on earth of the 1970s and the witnessing of foreign planets and its inhabitants. Get a feel for the unusual circumstances by talking to others on board and fulfill your duties as a lab assistant and janitor.
Take in the atmosphere and be a part of this utopia-turned-awry. Enable communication within a society that has long been fixated on (and eventually disillusioned with) being the last outpost of humanity. Your choice of engagement in conversation unfolds and affects the personality Harold quietly carries inside of him. Be prepared to make all the stuff around you bleep and bloop.
Do be careful, though. If you break the wrong thing someone might hold a long-time grudge with you.
“Harold Halibut started out as a dinner table conversation about the adventure games we played as children,” said Slow Bros. designer, writer, and composer Onat Hekimoglu. “We soon started building dollhouse sized sets and puppets in our bedrooms. The result works like a game but it looks like a stop motion film. Welded metal, carefully sewn textiles against tiny wooden floorboards, and clay faces the size of walnuts pull the player into Harold’s world.”
“We are beyond excited to be partnering with Slow Bros. on Harold Halibut,” said Simon Byron, Publishing Director at Curve Digital. “The sheer amount of work and intricate detail that Harold Halibut brings blew us away, and we can’t wait to show you all more.”
Comprised entirely of real world supplies and made in Unity, Harold Halibut aims to bridge analogue and digital art. Slow Bros. sculpts, paints, and glues together the models and puppets that make up the world of Harold Halibut, while a team of digital artists renders these objects into the virtual space.
Harold Halibut is in development for PC consoles, scheduled for 2019.
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