The Toronto gaming scene came together last week for the Hand Eye Society social. Not only was it an opportunity for the local game development, game journalism and enthusiast community to schmooze, but those in attendance were also treated to a preview of Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, a collaborative project from local developer Capybara Games (Critter Crunch, Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes), pixel artist/filmmaker Craig “superbrothers” Adams and acclaimed singer-songwriter Jim Guthrie.
Developed for Apple’s mobile touch devices, Sword & Sworcery is described by its creators as “a brave experiment in I/O cinema” and “a crude videogame haiku about life, love & death”. While the presentation raised more questions than it answered, based on what I saw I’d have to call the game a highly stylized touch adventure game. A quick survey of those in attendance revealed that people loved what they saw, but were still hard pressed to tell me what the game actually was. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen; the game recently won the IGF Mobile 2010 achievement in art award and you can immediately see why. Adams’ amazing pixel art has a simple, yet haunting quality to it. Guthrie’s sonic accompaniment lent Sword & Sworcery an eerie silent film vibe; it felt like a trippy, avant-garde version of King’s Quest.
Unit Bar in Parkdale was standing room only for the event, the largest Hand Eye Society social to date. Zack, Lucas, Joel and myself were there and managed to catch up with some of our favourite local game folk including Raki from Controller Punch!, Mark and Jaime of Gamercamp and Nathan from Capy to name a few. If you’re a local game developer (indie or otherwise), writer/blogger or just a fan be sure to check out The Hand Eye Society.
Check out the official site for Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
More photos from The Hand Eye Society Social
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