Welcome to Antiquonia. Internet not included.
| A modern 2D point-and-click adventure set in a disconcerting town that disregards the Internet. Sarah, the protagonist, wakes up with amnesia and has to solve a series of puzzles to discover her past. Husband-and-wife indie developers, Aruma Studios has announced their first commercial adventure game, Intruder in Antiquonia, which is currently under development and will eventually become available on Linux, Mac, and Windows in 2022. |
The story unfolds in present times. Sarah, the protagonist, is found lying on the road that leads to the town of Antiquonia. She is found by Karim, the ambulance driver in town. Together with the police officer and the convent gardener, Karim will help Sarah as she navigates both her lost memories and Antiquonia. Antiquonia is fairly unique and heavily inspired by the region of Galicia, Spain, where both developers grew up. Galicia has many beautiful towns full of soul and a long history, and the developers worked hard to capture that in the visuals of the game. As Sarah digs deeper into her memories, she discovers that she can hack computers and gadgets. That skill would be a complete game-changer in most places, but Antiquonia is a bit special when it comes to technology, so it won’t be so easy. |
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Antiquonia is designed to be a delight to explore, not just through beautiful visuals, but also by including charming, fully dimensional characters with motivations and in-depth backstories. Puzzles are deeply integrated with the story and are designed to keep the challenge at a level that feels rewarding when you solve them while still not being too stressful.
While the game is primarily a drama, it’s full of brief moments of comedy to break the tension, inspired by great movies such as Life Is Beautiful and As Good as it Gets. These moments are achieved through the unique personality of certain characters, who are fun to listen to, authentic, and they never pretend to be something they are not.
The game’s development aligns with the developers’ return to their roots in Galicia after 10 years of working in Switzerland. It’s also the first time they are working full-time on a video game. “I’ve wanted to make an adventure game since I played Loom and Maniac Mansion with my father as a kid, and this transition provided the perfect opportunity. A break from the usual 9 to 5 to do something very personal, with love and passion.” said developer Rubén López.
Silvia used to be a producer in TV shows and Rubén used to be a software engineer at Google. Together, they have created another short point-and-click adventure for the web and two puzzle games for smartphones.
Silvia Izquierdo said “We are capturing a little bit of Galicia in this game, and that feels truly special. Also, I love how I can translate many of my production skills to this genre, while at the same time learning a lot of new things.”
