Indie developer David Wehle – who previously made a game called Home is Where One Starts, is coming back with another title that’s in the same spirit as games like Firewatch and Journey. See the teaser for the game to get a better understanding of what that means here.
So there’s two different stories going on at the same time. The people you heard in the trailer, are those of a young couple who went through some sort of traumatic event in their lives. In the man’s attempts to find himself, he dreams about a fox that’s trying to their missing family. As the fox travels through majestic looking landscapes, along the hills and valleys of nature, we also learn more about this couple as the game unfolds. If you’re interested in the development process itself, David talked about that in a blog post last month where he described the advantages of the Unity engine.
To be honest, this game caught my attention on Twitter when David Wehle tweeted a GIF with a giant bunny.
Stress testing the bunny herds—with unforeseen consequences. #screenshotsaturday #gamedev #indiegame #madewithunity pic.twitter.com/5cAOP6f6zD
— David Wehle (@DavidWehle) August 20, 2016
It was pretty impressive. So he won an article out of me from it. David later clarified that the game will “probably not” have giant bunnies. I hope he considers before release to at least throw it in as an Easter Egg.
I asked David what he wanted to get out of making this game and he had this to say:
“I hope to tell an emotive story that helps shed light on life and death, and how we’re all connected in unexpected ways. Indie games allow the creators to share a more personal story than the traditional AAA game, and this is a very personal, beautiful story that I hope will stick with people for a while, especially when those unexpected connections are revealed by the end.”
The First Tree comes out in 2017 for PC. To learn more about the game, check out David’s Twitter and website.
