Format iOS, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Developer/publisher Amanita Design
Origin Czech Republic
Release 2020
One thing you’re pretty much guaranteed when playing a game from Amanita Design is an abundance of artistry. The Czech studio has spent the past 18 years straddling the divide between videogame design and traditional art techniques. And Creaks is no exception. It’s a puzzle platformer about things that go bump in the night – or simply when the lights flicker off and on. However, what really stands out is the way its ornate world is brought to life with a combination of oil painting and puppetry.
That’s no surprise, perhaps, given how the project began. “The concept and basic design came from my diploma work at the Academy Of Arts, Architecture And Design in Prague,” lead designer and artist Radim Jurda tells us. “A lot of Amanita’s games originate from this same animation studio.” Samorost, the studio’s first release, was the diploma project of founder Jakub Dvorský, while Botanicula was created by fellow alumnus Jaromír Plachý.
There aren’t many art schools in the Czech Republic, Creaks co-creator Jan Chlup explains, meaning that many projects are naturally interconnected thanks to students working with each other, as well as creators sharing a lot of interests and inspiration. The history of Czech animation and renowned animators such as Jirí Barta and Jan Švankmajer loom large over almost all of Amanita Design’s projects. Amanita’s input would come later, though.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 2021-Ausgabe von Edge.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 2021-Ausgabe von Edge.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles
Anyone familiar with the concept of kitbashing is already halfway to understanding what Tomas Sala’s open-world builder is all about.
Children Of The Sun
René Rother’s acrid revenge thriller – an action game with its limbs broken and forcibly rearranged into the shape of a spatial puzzler – is at once a bonafide original and an unlikely throwback. Cast your eyes right and you wouldn’t blink if we told you this was a forgotten Grasshopper Manufacture game from the early PS3 era (we won’t be at all surprised if this finds a spot on Suda51’s end-of-year list).
Post Script
What does Rise Of The Ronin say for PS5 exclusivity?
Rise Of The Ronin
Falling in battle simply switches control to the next person up, and then quick revive fixes everything
Post Script
The pawn and the pandemic
Dragon's Dogma 2
The road from Vernworth to Bakbattahl is scenic but arduous. Ignore the dawdling mobs of goblins, and duck beneath the chanting harpies that circle on the currents overhead, and even moving at a hurried clip it is impossible for a party of four to complete the journey by nightfall.
BLUE MANCHU
How enforced early retirement eventually led Jonathan Chey back to System Shock
THE MAKING 0F.... AMERICAN ARCADIA
How a contrast of perspectives added extra layers to a side-scrolling platform game
COMING IN TO LAND
The creator of Spelunky, plus a super-group of indie developers, have spent the best part of a decade making 50 games. Has the journey been worth it?
VOID SOLS
This abstract indie Soulslike has some bright ideas