A Gift From Simogo: The Sensational December Machine
You can open this one before Christmas
You may know Swedish developers Simogo as the developers of frights and folklore game Year Walk, which came to PC in March. Since that game's original iOS release, Simogo have released two other astonishingly clever and beautiful interactive narratives on fruit-based gadgets. 2013's Device 6 was my favourite handheld game of that year, converting the iPad into a future-book from the best possible timeline. And this year's release, The Sailor's Dream, has been a tranquil companion in the small hours of the morning.
Now, as a little pre-giftsmas treat, Simogo have released a new narrative, The Sensational December Machine, for free on PC and Mac.
It's a tiny little thing but enjoyable and with just enough of Simogo's usual flair to make the experience worthwhile. In fact, it's a bloody good advert, even if it's not intended to be. The way the story is told by moving through words is a brief and cut-down glimpse of the extraordinary work in Device 6.
Playing Simogo's games is probably what it's like being a toddler and discovering popup books for the first time. They really are brilliantly crafted and fascinating stories (I'll leave it to you to figure out if I'm talking about popup books or Simogo games).