Postman's Odyssey

Targeted primary platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux
Current stage of development: Alpha
Estimated release date: Early 2015

Sections

About Postman's Odyssey

Postman's Odyssey is a single player 3D platforming game focused on non-violent exploration of a surreal and complex world. Awakening in a strange and mostly abandoned alien world, the player will take on the role of a 'postman' tasked with delivering mail through six mysterious regions. 

The player's journey will include collecting items, learning new skills, talking to strange characters and exploring the highest peaks and deepest chasms. Using open, vertical levels without prescribed paths, we aim to have the player progress like a mountain climber, finding and testing their own way.

Inspired by the 'collect-a-thon' platformers we played as kids in the 90's and 00's, Postman's Odyssey is a game for the adults we now are, shot through with mature and thought-provoking themes and a narrative slowly pieced together from scraps and hints rather than directly told.

Highlights

  • Mature and thought-provoking - unlike the bright, colourful games it is inspired by, Postman's Odyssey features mature themes and a dark, atmospheric world. It's as if the genre has grown up along with the kids who played these games in the 90's and 00's.
  • A story not told but pieced together - the story exposition is rarely direct but is delivered in the form of small hints and suggestions pieced together by the player.
  • Open, vertical level design - heavily inspired by the developer's architecture background, each of the six game areas stretch upwards rather than onwards and are explored and criss-crossed rather than progressed through.
  • No-prescribed paths - players can use their abilities and skills to forge their own paths. Similar to a mountain climber, the player tests and tries out new techniques and paths to reach an ultimate goal. Exploration will be its own reward, not just a means to an end.
  • Non-violent - the player has no combat abilities, and faces very few "enemies".
  • Extensive upgrade paths through abilities and gadgets - beyond core upgrades needed to progress to new levels, optional upgrades and gadgets will enable the player to reach new areas in each level.
  • Literal transformation of the player - initially a human, they will transform their body to gain each new ability, eventually becoming as deformed as the alien inhabitants of the world they have found themselves in.

Videos

In-game Screenshots

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Image 1: Tutorial Road - The begining of this Postman's Odyssey

Image 2: The Oil Sands

Image 3: The Broken Bridge - Some suspect that the bridge has been deliberately sabotaged. But to what end?

Image 4: The Temple - Great stone edifices are all that remain of a once great civilisation that vanished without a trace

Image 5: Refinery Road - A once busy road now left with nothing but the sand and the wind

Image 6: The Oil Refinery - Constructed to refine the oil found in underground caverns and the deep caves

Image 7: The View - From the oil refinery you can see the edge of the Junk City and to the mountains beyond

Image 8: The Mentor - Pretends to be wise but he younger that his transformed appearance would lead you to believe

Concept Art

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Image 9: Looking out over the world you will see interesting places that are worth a good look.

Image 10: Our intrepid protagonist finds himself stranded in a distorted world with nothing but his wits and the mail he must deliver.

Image 11: These strange citizens of this weird world live in most obscure places. It's your job to find them.

Image 12: The Oil Sands. Welcome to the baking desert. Strewn with the rusting remains of the great oil industry .You will seek out the workers who remained to help you on your quest.

Image 13: Welcome to Junk City. Built into cliffs carved with faces of terror. Many secrets lie within its towering structures and dark alleys.