Tales from Off-Peak City Vol. 1 is coming to Steam on May 15, instantly making it my most anticipated release of next month. It's the next game from Cosmo D, creator of offbeat narrative adventures The Norwood Suite—already a proud inductee into PC Gamer's Top 100—and the free Off-Peak.
This new release is set in the same world as the last two, which means it will continue the trend of oddball characters making strange requests. Case in point: your main objective here is to obtain a saxophone from pizza-maker and former saxophonist Cartano Grosso.
A press release that accompanies the release date promises that players will "make pizzas, take photos, push buttons, open drawers they're not supposed to," etc. Really, though, if Tales from Off-Peak City is anything like The Norwood Suite—and the trailer above suggests that it is—the real treat here is the chance to wander through quirky locales, soaking up the surrealist visuals while enjoying Cosmo D's distinctive electro-jazz soundtracks.
This is the first part of a planned anthology, each release featuring a standalone story that nevertheless builds into an overarching narrative. It feels like the perfect format for Cosmo D's inimitable style, and I'm excited to see how everything fits together.
Pop over to the Steam page for Tales from Off-Peak City Vol. 1: Caetano's Slice for more information. And keep your fingers crossed that the game's soundtrack will feature a song that slaps as hard as The Norwood Suite's Blue Moose Man.
