Part adventure, part exploration, Odyssey delves into the fascinating realm of scientific exploration, and takes players on a journey through the eyes of young explorer Kai Rao. When Kai and her family are attacked by dastardly sailors who sink their boat, they are forced to find a secret buried treasure.
The idea for Odyssey was originally conceived in 2015. Since then, the game turned to Kickstarter for funding, enlisted the word fu skills of Tomb Raider: Underworld creative director Eric Lindstrom for the narrative, and help from 3D artist Jason Miller (who has experience shipping stuff for Activision, Disney, and LucasArts) for the visuals.
Developer The Young Socratics is also an educational program in maths and science aimed at middle and high school students. Odyssey reflects the program’s problem-solving ethos by structuring gameplay around science; Kai has left behind astronomy-inspired clues in her journal for players to piece together into something tangible. Co-creator of Odyssey Omkar Deshpande explains that puzzle-solving will be a big component of the gameplay:
“Reading Kai’s journal fragments is the key to learning not only the story of the family and why they’re in trouble, but also the way Kai has spent several months of her time rediscovering some of the biggest ideas in the 2000-year-long story of astronomy and mechanics, from the ancient Greeks to Galileo. Understanding those ideas through her journal will help you make sense of the models you will find during your exploration, and how to crack the puzzles built around those models, which will allow you to successfully navigate around the islands.”
Odyssey is due to release on February 23 via Steam Early Access.
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