Albatross is a platformer that bounces back and forth in time. The answers to its puzzles lie both in the present and future, and players will traverse the two as the story gradually unfolds. Indie studio Deeper Magic Company is raising funds for its debut title on Kickstarter, and it plans on releasing the game in 2019 for PC and possibly other platforms.
The star of the game is Stewart, an engineer who visits the titular research facility where they study spacetime. He discovers a handy gadget that enables him to travel between time periods, but as often is the case, with time travel comes trouble. Stewart will have to swap between his present day and a dystopian future to unravel a disaster that befalls Albatross.
Stewart’s present time is 1984, and you see this in Albatross’s glossy retro-futuristic aesthetic. Most of the game seems to take place in the high-tech facility as well as underground caverns. Deeper Magic cofounder Jonathan Coleman says that he and the team drew inspiration from the 2D side-scrolling platformers of their childhood. However, the focus will be on platforming and solving puzzles, and the only enemies Stewart will encounter will be mental.
“The game’s antagonists are the memories playing out in Stewart’s head. He’s an anxious ball of nerves, mostly due to his troubled childhood… so anytime he’s faced with an obstacle, it drums up nightmares from his past — small mini-scenes, like a radio play,” said Coleman in an email to GamesBeat. “You experience his past while progressing forwards through the levels, and gradually uncover the horrible thing Stewart’s time travel has caused.”
So time travel didn’t exactly work out for Stewart and the future he sees is pretty grim. But on the bright side, at least players don’t have to worry about advanced killer robots.