Exploring Earth's oceans are great, but what about exploring other-worldly oceans? Subnautica and the upcoming In Other Waters show the wonder and fun of exploring subterranean alien life, and after playing the Kickstarter pre-alpha demo of Moebial Studio's Aquamarine, its gorgeous underwater alien world will be joining them.
Aquamarine is an underwater survival game about exploring the seafloor of a mysterious alien sea in search of your crashed spaceship. Marooned on a small island, you'll need to search for resources to survive and find a way to reach your ship on this mysterious pink and blue planet.
The music is a mixture of warm, low-fi synths, and with the water-washed colours of the alien world it creates a very relaxing atmosphere. For a game about survival, it's a very chill experience. You might recognise the art style of Aquamarine because it's inspired by the work of French cartoonist Mobius, known for his highly influential gorgeous alien worlds.
To explore the planet's deep waters you have a little underwater pod to help you move, but if your battery bar goes empty the bubble will shatter, sending you straight back to your little island. It's a slow and purposeful game that focuses on a quiet exploration through turn-based movement. Although I didn't come across any in the demo, Aquamarine also has point-and-click puzzle-solving elements which reveal more of the planet's history.
Developer Moebial Studios previously ran a Kickstarter back in 2018 where it unfortunately failed. In this year's campaigns video, Aquamarine's lead design and director Patric Fallon explains that the studio has learnt a lot since then and has built a strong community, which is reflected in the studio smashing its campaign's goal of $12,500 with a total of just under $18,000.
The Kickstarter campaign is in its final hours, and you can head over to the Aquamarine Kickstarter page to have a look at the full campaign and further details. Moebial Studios is planning on a full release of Aquamarine sometime near the end of this year.
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