After the surreal adventure game Strangeland, developer Wormwood Studios are back at it again with a new Kickstarter for Hibernaculum, a Survival Horror RPG with an art style that draws from the biomechanical leanings of H.R. Giger, though not as outright as Scorn. As you might expect, the campaign has already been a success, drawing more than $47,000 US with 23 days left to go.
Hibernaculum is described as a retro-inspired dungeon crawler in the vein of classics such as Eye of the Beholder, but tinged with the “gothic shock” of Horror Soft’s Elvira & Waxworks series. And like all good Survival Horror games, Hibernaculum takes after Resident Evil 2 and System Shock 2 for that component.
The story as it stands sees you on board a ship that is appropriately dark, grimy, and holding mysteries long forgotten. That also includes its inhabitants, which is where the Giger influence comes in. There’s plenty of that biomechanical eye candy, but with a heavy industrial theme. There’s also plenty of mutated creatures that reflect the dark and grimy environments aboard the ship.
The devs aim for non-linear gameplay with Hibernaculum, allowing for exploration at your own pace, and in your own way. Forge ahead and risk calamity or riches. Conversely, pace yourself and avoid harm.
At the moment, the timeframe for the game to be released is around 2025, as the Kickstarter states that Hibernaculum will be made “slowly but surely over the course of several years if needs be”. Obviously, funding will go a long way to paring down that timeframe to something a bit more definite.
Currently, the game is being developed for release on Steam and GOG, with “immediate plans for porting to Steam Deck, iOS & Nintendo Switch“.
Thanks to Gaming on Linux for the heads up.
Mike Wilson
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