“A Juggler’s Tale” is an atmospheric 3D sidescroller set in a medieval puppet theater play.
The string puppet Abby flees from her captors into freedom and adventure: a world of beauty and wonder - but also danger! She finds herself in a war-torn, medieval fairytale, surrounded by ravaged, starving citizens and hunted by the relentless cut-throat, Tonda. Who can she trust? Can she avoid the traps and betrayal? Despite dangling from her threads, Abby learns that she can still influence her destiny - if only by winning over the audience.
Help Abby navigate a traumatized, yet hauntingly beautiful world. Lead her forward through riddles and around traps, evade her pursuers and find - perhaps - freedom!
The storyteller and puppeteer Jack shows his audience the theater play of Abby, an imprisoned circus artiste. She escapes the circus and gets to explore a fairytale world, but after a brief moment of freedom finds herself dragged into the dangers this world has to offer: She crosses raging rivers, bandit camps and traps, always accompanied by the lyrical rhymes of Jack's story.
He talks about Abby’s fears and helps her in difficult situations - while holding the strings of his puppet firmly in his ever-helpful hands.
A Juggler’s Tale offers fascinating riddles and intense story moments all around the mystical puppet theatre setting. The strings are not only a visual representation of the strong connection between storyteller and puppet, they are also our main game mechanic, creating lots of unique puzzle moments.
While still in development, "A Juggler's Tale" won the BEST NEWCOMER Award at the German Videogame Award 2019 and won six out of twelve awards at Game Connection Europe 2019, which never happened before.
We want to link modern digital gaming culture with traditional, established theatre and poetry culture. Germany, our home country, can look back on centuries of fairy tales, poetry and drama. We grew up between these tales, legends and worlds - and combining these narratives with our love for story-driven games was our motivation to develop "A Juggler’s Tale".
Therefore, our game is for everyone who wants to dive into a wonderful story - regardless of age, gender or gaming experience.
"The sun's warming beams have long since given way
to clammy slivers of the moon's monochrome rays.
The ground recedes into shadows so black
you can be sure they'll never let you back.
And the stars? Well, they're there... and create a magical mood!
But alas, I suspect Abby's fate leaves them wholly unmoved."
"Oh my! The world- my world! - shows itself from its best side!
The fields, the flowers, the horizon... cast in beautiful light!
The voices pursuing her... they slowly subdue
to wind stroking grass, cricket orchestras... sounds all so new!
The evening sky in streaks of dusk, mirroring your soul,
for the kinship of nature and wild things is devoid of control."
Mutazione is one of the stand out indie titles for the IGF nominations this year.
The finalists have been revealed for the 22nd annual awards ceremony of the Independent Games Festival, which honors the most innovative and acclaimed indie games from the past year as part of the Game Developers Conference, taking place in March in San Francisco.
The road to the IGF is long, involving an initial screening process overseen by more than 300 judges who pick finalists for several categories, from over 550 entries. Some of the indie games which stood out over the past year and to the judges, picking up several nominations, are Mutazione by developer Die Gute Fabrik and the social phenomenon Untitled Goose Game by Australian studio House House.
IGF winners will receive more than $20,000 in prizes across all categories, with the winner of the Seumas McNally Grand Prize taking home $10,000. Check out all the nominations below, for categories including Excellence in Narrative, Design, Visual Art and more. Follow and learn more about each game by visiting their profiles here on IndieDB.
On the note of awards, we recently revealed the Editor's Choice awards and who you decided to be the best upcoming indie games and overall best indie games for 2019 as part of the IndieDB Awards.
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
Eliza - by Zachtronics
A Short Hike - by adamgryu
Untitled Goose Game - by House House
Mutazione - by Die Gute Fabrik
Slay the Spire - by Mega Crit Games
Anodyne 2: Return to Dust - by Sean Han Tani & Marina Kittaka
Excellence in Visual Art
Mutazione - by Die Gute Fabrik
Knights And Bikes - by Foam Sword
Void Bastards - by Blue Manchu
Creature in the Well- by Flight School Studio
Stone Story RPG - by Martian Rex / Standardcombo
Excellence in Audio
Observation - by No Code
Astrologaster - by Nyamyam
Knights And Bikes - by Foam Sword
Mutazione - by Die Gute Fabrik
Untitled Goose Game - by House House
Excellence in Design
Katana ZERO - by Askiisoft
Lonely Mountains: Downhill - by Megagon Industries
Slay the Spire - by Mega Crit Games
A Short Hike - by adamgryu
Elsinore - by Golden Glitch
Patrick's Parabox - by Patrick Traynor
Excellence in Narrative
Mutazione - by Die Gute Fabrik
Heaven's Vault - by inkle
Elsinore - by Golden Glitch
Wide Ocean Big Jacket - by Turnfollow
Eliza - by Zachtronics
Lionkiller - by Sisi Jiang
Nuovo Award
Tales From Off-Peak City Vol. 1 - by Cosmo D Studios
The Space Between - by Christoph Frey
Life Tastes Like Cardboard - by Demensa
Promesa - by Julián Palacios
Song of Bloom - by Philipp Stollenmayer
Pagan: Autogeny - by Oleander Garden
Best Student Game
Orbital Bullet - by SmokeStab
A Juggler's Tale - Bergmann, Oberle, Probst, Schön Gbr
Forgotten - by Mutiny Games
Bore Dome - by Goblin Rage
Nothing In Sight - by Nothing In Sight Team
Another stand-out title with several IGF nominations for 2020 is the hilarious Untitled Goose Game.
Check out the full list which includes all the honorable mentions and find out more about the Independent Games Festival on their website.
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