Backfirewall really is as bonkers as the trailer looks, just in case you thought you were turning mad while watching it. This game is dubbed a meta-comedy puzzler about a smartphone operating system – that’s the kind of invigorating synopsis that will get you up in the morning.
You play the Update Assistant who must make sure that the OS9 system gets its long overdue update. This is where the game ventures on the stranger side of things: The OS9 does not want to be replaced by the OS10, so you must partake in a puzzling journey to help enforce the will of the update protocol.
The team behind this nutty game is Naraven Games, and they released news on the game at yesterday’s PC Gaming Show along with the unconventional trailer. This game is about as unique as it comes, but if we were to compare it with anything, it has shades of The Stanley Parable and possibly even Portal. Watch the new announcement trailer below.
Naraven Games’ accompanying piece to assure players about what to expect went a little like this: “Explore a weird and wonderful smartphone’s setting, brimming with life and tell-tale conversations. Navigate wi-fi’s bureaucratic nightmare or party in the speakers’ exclusive nightclub and encounter many quirky characters, each an irreplaceable piece of personified software with its own rich rile history”. We’re not sure that we understand what they’re going on about.
This game looks weird and wonderful; a treat for the eyes if you haven’t pulled them out, but it’s the puzzles and the jokes that are the game’s biggest pulling point. This is the reason why the reveal trailer is what it is, as to not give away too much about what to expect. There will be a whole host of sarcastic signs as you walk around that you might need to decipher, and you will need to manipulate some of your surroundings, which could allude to the inclusion of some spatial puzzles.
Backfirewall can be accessed on Steam in its demo form (until June 20th), along with some gameplay of the developer playing it, and the game is set for a full release later in the year for PC, PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One/X/S, and Nintendo Switch.
