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We're a niche publishing label focused solely on games that tell important or emotionally-engaging stories, or explore new gameplay/artistic territories...in a nutshell, titles that give more than entertainment.
On May 27th, we'll release on Nintendo Switch one budget-friendly Bundle that features our entire catalogue. It will be available in Americas + Europe/Oceania.
All the titles are story-driven adventure games and their gameplay sub-genre varies from platform, puzzle, visual novel or survival. Most of them won prestigious awards at for example Tokyo Game Show, Indie Cade or A MAZE.
The games explore various themes such as:
Art / Culture (games Please, Touch The Artwork or EQQO or Cosmic Top Secret);
Substance abuse / Family issues (games Lydia or Cosmic Top Secret);
Love / Relations (EQQO, Mythic Ocean, Stilstand, Journey of the Broken Circle);
Introspection / Escape (Soul Searching, Infini, Stilstand, A Night at the Races)
Infini is a quirky and abstract puzzle game created by Barnaque Inc.,
a studio based in Montreal, Canada. Players take the form of Hope, a
personified representation of the feeling, who embarks on a life long
journey of self-discovery. Along the way, players discover the sorts
of challenges humans face as they navigate through life.
Gameplay
We are Hope, a genderless personification of the emotion, and from
the beginning of the game, we endlessly fall from an odd ship.
Although we have no idea what the games' purpose is, the abstract
experience makes more sense as time progresses. Hope goes through a
series of puzzles with little understanding of why. After making it
through the portals to harder levels, players gain access to useful
and necessary abilities to continue their journey.
At first, the presentation of the game did not inspire me to play it,
but I found that spending some time with Infini left me with a sense
of curiosity. See, the objective of this unique puzzle game is to get
Hope to the exit. Exit points are represented by a hole in the air
that seems to rip the fabric of time and space. The exit points are
fairly obvious in the early levels but will be located in less
obvious locations, later on, forcing players to use their abilities
and think outside the box. While I'm terrible at playing games like
this, I found myself fascinated by Infini even after repeatedly
failing to complete levels.
The
Abilities
Let's briefly talk about some of the abilities present in the game.
Slowing yourself down - This ability is used to slow Hope down to
avoid obstacles.
Speeding yourself up - In a similar fashion to the slowdown, the
speeding up ability helps players reach their destination,
otherwise, they face impending doom.
Zoom Feature - The zoom feature is one that players have struggled
with. The idea behind it is not to zoom out completely but to
manipulate the screen in such a way that Hope can access new areas.
After completing a few levels, Hope finds other characters like
Memory, Peace, Poetry, Time, and Technology, just to name a few. In
the interest of keeping the abstract theme, each character is
portrayed as different genderless creatures. For example, Poetry
appears as a dog, Memory is an elephant, and Peace is a person.
However, there is one that appears as a humanoid with a rifle head. I
assume that character will turn out to be War. Anyways, these
characters are personified as emotions and concepts that we have to
deal with in the real world. Because of this, I find the game
intriguing, but feel like a lot of people will skip this title.
While I'm all for abstract gameplay, art pieces, or ideas, Infini's
downfall is that Hope's abilities aren't explained. Even at that, the
dialogue in the game causes more questions than answers. Another
issue with the dialogue is that some of the translation is terrible.
And even though Infini has over 100 levels and 8+ hours worth of
gameplay, it might be too abstract for the average gamer.
Sound
and Music
The sound design during dialogue portions of Infini is...
distracting. For example, when talking to Poetry, the audio sounds
like small clips of a dog's bark spliced together. What's worse is
that the audio is often spliced in a manner that is extremely obvious
and jarring. Thus, the dialogue audio comes across as irritating, and
not charming to the players.
However, the music of Infini is quite well done. The instrumental
music that plays during each level changes so that some levels have a
mesmerizing sound, while others are gritty and almost retro-sounding.
The artist Roche Ovale is known for experimental / electronic music.
It's no surprise that Infini's unique sound feels just as abstract as
its visual design.
Roche Ovale consists of three members: Marc-Andre Provencher, David
Martin (one of the developers), and Etienne Legast. In fact, David
Martin has been part of the band for a number of years, which might
have contributed to the music being featured in the game. The group
is located in Montreal and has several albums available on Soundcloud
and Bandcamp.
For more information about the group, check out their Facebook
page.
Infini
Final Thoughts
Before I get into my final thoughts, I will cover a couple of the
negative points I found during gameplay. Some of these issues reflect
the nature of indie games not having the same resources as triple-A
studios. I usually overlook certain issues, but the presentation of
the game makes them really stand out.
Here are some of my negative points for Infini:
It's easy to forget the controls for the various abilities, which
can cause you to fail a level multiple times.
The English translation is awful in places.
The aesthetic is more likely to drive players away from it.
The audio design during dialogue sections is sometimes unpleasant.
Upon seeing the trailer of Infini I admit I wasn't on board with the
title. Even as a person that enjoys abstract storytelling, I feel
like Infini might be too far off the mark. That said, I found myself
pleasantly surprised once I played through some of the levels. It
reminds me a bit like Frogger and for as much as I failed various
levels, I wasn't raging. I found the game to be an oddly relaxing
experience despite its strange presentation and difficulty. In short,
the game is worth trying.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate Infini at an 8. My experience is
positive, which just goes to show that one should not judge a video
game by its visual aesthetics. And because I didn't expect much out
of this title, I found myself pleasantly surprised by its gameplay.
Infini is definitely a game to experience, even if its presentation
is abstract and perhaps off-putting. So, don't miss out on this
title!
From Dreamhack Montreal, Chalgyr's covered the overall event, to Rocket League, to Indie developers showcasing their titles. This year, Infini was available to play in the Indie Zone and since we love indie games here, we thought we'd do a press release about Infini. Take a look below!
***
MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC – Sep. 19, 2019 – Infini, the psychedelic puzzle adventure from developer Barnaque and publisher Nakana.io, will launch on Nintendo Switch, PC, and Mac in Q1 2020.
Integrating an outlandish narrative with rigorous mind-bending puzzles, Infini walks a fine line of meditative and chaotic. Standout visuals and concepts are used to create an imaginative and surrealist world where concepts like Poetry, War, Time, and Hope are personified. After being catapulted into Infinity by War, Hope must find his way back to the real world before it begins to suffer from his absence.
Hope must avoid obstacles to reach the next level as he falls endlessly through an eccentric alternate realm. Each world harbors new abilities, themes, and opportunities to explore the multiverse and its bizarre personalities. Meet helpful allies and deceitful foes as Hope learns who to trust while lost in Infinity.
Barnaque is creating the ominous soundtrack themselves, with more than 20 original songs bringing life to the metaphorical world of Infinity. Their psychedelic imagery and hand-drawn cinematics paint the landscape for the unsettling fate that threatens Hope. Prepare to drift straight into the madness they’ve created and escape Infinity early next year.
Infini Key Features:
Rigorous puzzles that introduce new abilities in each world
Distinct worlds layered with allegory, symbolism, and complex characters
More than 100 levels through 10 diverse worlds
Standout visuals and a grandiose soundtrack with more than 20 original songs
Mind-bending gameplay that sways between meditative and chaotic
“We are always striving to push limits and break boundaries with our narratives and gameplay,” says David Martin, Co-founder of Barnaque. “Our goal with Infini is to destabilize players by throwing them into an unknown world of surprise.”
Head to Barnaque’s official website and Twitter to learn more about Infini’s extraordinary world and its upcoming release. Wishlist Infini on Steam here!
About Barnaque
Proudly based in Montréal, Québec, Barnaque was founded by David Martin and Émeric Morin. The team specializes in crafting imaginative experiences that surprise and destabilize using a variety of tools and platforms, ranging from traditional gamepads and screens to custom controllers in an abstract world and virtual or augmented reality.
About Nakana.io
Nakana.io publishes video games that share an experience to remember, whether it be with impactful messages or alternative creation forms. They embrace the vision of passionate developers and help them reach more players via customized and multi-platform porting, publishing, and communication services.
