Spiral winds closer to release with playable demo

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Upcoming narrative adventure offers "poetic vision of cognitive degeneration seen from the inside"

It's surely a blessing to have a lifetime of rich memories to reflect back on in one's later years ... but what happens when those memories begin failing? A number of recent adventures have tackled the dreadful issue of memory loss in powerful, meaningful ways, the latest of which is Folklore Games' upcoming Spiral.

Bernard is an elderly man with cognitive degeneration, who wishes to bid goodbye one last time to a lifetime of memories that made him the man he is before they're gone for good. In sharing this walk down memory lane with him, you will accompany Bernard through a series of twenty flashbacks spanning four major phases of his life, beginning in his early childhood and continuing right up until the moment you met each other. But Bernard's memory is fragile, so as his recollections begin to falter, you must "help him remember the important friendships that endured decades, taking the time to connect with them, not only by talking to them but also by playing with them, working alongside them or simply sharing their passion." How thoroughly you choose to engage with optional "side stories and minor quests" will help determine which details are preserved later in the story.

Described as a "poetic vision of cognitive degeneration seen from the inside," Spiral is a third-person 3D adventure with a variety of different gameplay mechanics tailored to each memory. You will, for example, help a young Bernard learn to fish with his father, or stealthily guide him to avoid being caught by his mother after getting into trouble with his sister Sophie. The more Bernard's memory fails him, the more diverse the gameplay elements become. Every memory you visit and any mementoes you find will be recorded in his journal, but this too is subject to the decay afflicting Bernard's mind. Progress through the protagonist's memories is depicted by a giant spiral staircase "representing his descent in his own mind," surrounded by a terrifying void but with new doors to open along the way. Unlike many games, the goal here is not to save Bernard from his fate, but to embrace it, "understanding him and the process he is going through as he forgets who he is." This being his final farewell, the ultimate objective is "accepting that everything has an ending and not always the one you wished for."

Successfully crowdfunded through Kickstarter in 2023, Spiral is on track to be launched on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch as early as September 2024. There's no need to way for a sample taste of what to expect, however, as a playable demo is already available on Steam and itch.io.

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