Kawiteros Is A 2D Platformer Inspired By Shamanism

Hey, remember that time you and I did Peyote in the desert during the '70s? Me neither, but the people of Neko Entertainment have made a game about it.

Kawiteros [official site] is a game that "pulls you into the shamans' mystical and dreamlike universe," according to Neko, presumably exhaling some mysterious smoke. "A colourful, living and breathing world, with unique fauna, flora and symbols..."

You play a shaman who can make spiritual links between objects and animals to wield their mighty powers. Kawiteros lets you live out the favourite passtime of the shaman: puzzle solving.

"The idea came to us during a game jam we organised for ourselves," their dev blog continues. "We had already worked together during our college years in Paris. There was a notion we frequently talked about: shamanism. We wanted to explore it concretely and with game mechanics. One aspect of it caught our interest the most, that “everything is connected”. The connection between the humans and nature, between the past and present, between the mind and the world… These are fundamental aspects of many a shamanic culture…"

The results so far are beautiful. Imagine a 2D, side-scrolling version of Journey: It's ornate and mystical. And it's slated to come to Steam in 2016.