Wanderlust Travel Stories game from ex-Witcher creators lets couch potatoes explore the world
Former developers of The Witcher have come up with a new experimental ‘slow gaming’ project aimed at gamers passionate about travel.
Called Wanderlust Travel Stories, producers Jacek Brzeziński and Artur Ganszyniec of The Witcher fame teamed up with travellers, journalists and translators to create an online travel-like experience.
Based on real stories, the fictional characters decide how they will travel, what they will take and where they will stay – as well as what they will do once in a location.
Extremely realistic and full of unexpected encounters, the characters are completely made-up, yet most adventures are based on real stories.
Players have four main threads to follow and are incarnated as one of four unique characters.
Characters can have conversations with characters they meet in different scenarios on their travels.
Each protagonist takes the player on a different adventure to diverse destinations: Barcelona, Thailand, Africa or the Antarctic.
Following the stance that ‘travel changes people’, all of the players’ choices affect the protagonists’ character and his/her current mood as well (stress and fatigue).
One of the creators, Artur Ganszyniec, said: “One cannot lose, but can be bitterly disappointed with how the character changes. Still, there will be no frustrating ”Game Over” notices.”
“One cannot lose, but can be bitterly disappointed with how the character changes. Still, there will be no frustrating ”Game Over” notices,” says Ganszyniec from Different Tales Studio, which he co-founded with Brzeziński who previously worked on hits such as ‘Dead Island Riptide’, ‘Dying light’ and ‘Hitman’.
The game is the first of its kind, and intentionally requires no movement skill and nearly no effort on the player’s behalf.
Ganszyniec said: “We have presented Wanderlust Travel Stories to several people. We usually hear them say ‘But this isn’t a game… .’
“Very good. It’s a book. It’s an experience. Far more than just a game,” he said.
As well as managing stress and fatigue levels, you need to keep an eye on your bank balance.
Explaining the reasoning behind the ‘extreme slow game’ Brzeziński added: “We wanted it to be the game you play when travelling, or wish that you were.”
The game is expected to be released in the second half of 2019 for PC and iOS users.
