Particle-u-lary Interesting: Particulars on Greenlight
Sometimes I like to lie awake at night and imagine all my little atoms in my little atom body came from other, much cooler things than me. For example, I like to imagine that somewhere in me there is an atom that once belonged to Grace Darling, an English lighthouse keeper's daughter who spotted the wreck and survivors of the Forfarshire in 1838, and determined it was too stormy out in the chop for a lifeboat. So she rowed out in a rowing boat with her father at great risk to herself and brought in survivors. Grace died a few short years later at the super-young age of 26 from tuberculosis, but what a woman. What a person. I like to think that one of her atoms is recycled in me.
Particulars is a game about atoms. Atoms are beautiful.
See-Through Studios (whose last game Alec said was 'atmospheric and smart') and Surprise Attack are developing the lovely little game Particulars, the atom game in question. It's a story-led, arcade puzzle game that seems to have a lot of intelligent thought about it. On their Greenlight page the developers say the game has a "strong basis in real-world physics research". "We want more games that can make us think and feel," they say. "It's a way for people to get a handle on quarks and the strong force and the craziness they entail, rather than a replacement for Wikipedia or the like."
Alison is a young scientist who feels like life has gotten away from her. Join her on a dark and strange journey through the unsolved mysteries of the subatomic realm on her way towards regaining clarity. Other particles will push and pull at you, keeping you on the brink of losing control and being dragged towards annihilation.
The first episode of Particulars will have about 75 levels according to the team, and will be officially released in the fourth quarter of 2013. But you can sign up for the Alpha for $5 and get access to the current build of the game, plus all future updates, up-to-and-including the final release.
You can vote for them on Greenlight, or you can join the Alpha here.
