Figment imagines its way onto PC today
All in the mind
When you see games partway through the development process they can get frozen in your memory at that point. I saw Figment [official site] a long while ago in a hotel courtyard at GDC and I remember loving its art style but being unsure how the game itself would pan out. I'd catch it out of the corner of my eye at shows - this year's Rezzed for example - but always managed to hit a busy time and so couldn't get a hands-on. Fast-forward to today when the game is a) launching on PC and b) playable at EGX and I get to compare my snapshot with Brendy's and they've managed to tangle together!
"If you do a newsie about Figment coming out today you can say I played some at EGX and it is like Pip dreaming of an bird dreaming of a newt dreaming about playing Bastion. A bit slow maybe. But then you never can move fast in a dream."
It's a game set in someone's imagination - I feel like that's a genre now, or it will be as soon as we settle on a good name for it:
"Welcome to the world of Figment. A strange and surreal world; a place filled with our deepest thoughts, urges and memories, populated by the many voices we hear in our heads. This mind has been quiet and calm for many years. But something has changed. New thoughts have started to emerge - taking the shape of nightmarish creatures who spread fear wherever they go. The only hope is for the grumpy Dusty, the mind's former voice of courage, to get back to his old self and help the mind to face its fears."
I was drawn in because the animation made me think of some of the odd, dream-like cards for the boardgame, Dixit. It's still as whimsical and charming, but the rest of my knowledge comes from the GDC before last, so spring 2016? Adam had a turn this year and I think it's definitely worth reading his Figment hands-on in full as there's a bunch of nuance to what he liked and didn't which I think will help people figure out if it's for them or not!
Figment is out now for Windows, Mac, and Linux through Steam and GOG. A 15% launch discount makes it £12.74/€16.99/$16.99.