Amanita Design – the developer behind the acclaimed likes of Samorost, Machinarium, Creaks, and last year’s surreal horror Happy Games – has unveiled its latest project: “hand-crafted” dystopian adventure Phonopolis.
Phonopolis, which makes use of actual corrugated cardboard sets and a 12fps stop-motion animation style inspired by classic animated films, casts players as Felix, a thoughtful young man who must try and stop the titular city’s authoritarian leader from playing the Absolute tone – an occurrence that would effectively cause Felix and his fellow citizens to lose their humanity.
What follows is a story-driven puzzle adventure encompassing “relatable, real-world themes”, including manipulation and individualism. That doesn’t mean it’ll be heavy going, though; Amanita says Phonopolis will explore its subject matter in a “playful and light-hearted” way.