Children of Silentown, a new cute but creepy point-and-click adventure game from Elf Games and Luna2, is officially releasing January 11, 2023. A free playable prologue has been released on Steam ahead of launch.
The game is brought to us by the creative team at Luna2 and game developer Elf Games, who previously developed the game Little Briar Rose. This unique collaboration came about as a result of the team at Luna2 showing Elf Games a sneak peek of a short animated feature they had been working on. Elf Games was so enamored by the animation style and story that they started thinking- “what if this was an interactive adventure?” Luna2 was very receptive to expanding its short film project into something more immersive, so the partnership was formed.
Children of Silentown tells the story of a village surrounded by a thick forest with many mysteries through the eyes of young villager Lucy. During the daytime, the village seems fairly tame and peaceful. However, at night, it becomes quite the opposite. There have been mysterious disappearances of children, always after dusk. This has left the community’s adults worried and extra protective of the younger community members. The forest looms as quite the taboo in the village- the only person known to regularly venture into it and come back is the village woodworker, who does not speak to anyone else in the village. Lucy has been regularly having nightmares for quite some time. She is quick to push her parents’ boundaries, motivated by curiosity about how the disappearances, her nightmares, and the forest may be linked.
The art of the same is one of the most intriguing aspects. The style is heavily aesthetic- very cute but also somewhat unsettling. Every component of every scene appears to be hand drawn, giving the game a very homebrewed feeling, as if truly looking at someone’s manual artwork come to life. The characters’ designs are somewhat simple, with large blank white eyes. If you were ever a fan of the Pon & Zi webcomics (really showing my inner emo kid here), I was immediately reminded of their designs.
After playing through the free prologue, I can confidently say I eagerly anticipate returning to uncover the mysteries that await in this little village. Though the prologue did tease a small peek at what exactly is threatening the town, it left more than enough to the imagination in order to leave players wanting more!
The full mystery of Children of Silentown will be available to explore on January 11, 2023, on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.
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