The Anders Cyclopaedia
A downloadable game for Windows
Summary
Anders, a wild parallel universe, has become explorable once more. No one sees value in exploring this hostile, strange environment, except you.
Explore the wilderness, commune with its denizens, learn its esoteric rules, and compile your knowledge in the notoriously incomplete and error-ridden Anders Cyclopaedia.
As this is a work in progress, please bear with me, and let me know about any oddness or issues you come across during your playthrough!
Feedback is more than welcome, it is actively desired!
Download
Development log
- Version 0.6 - A Peek Beyond The Void98 days ago
- 0.5.1 post-playtest hotfixDec 22, 2023
- Version 0.5 - UPD Paper VersionDec 19, 2023
- Version 0.3 - Movement UpdateNov 10, 2023
- Playtest 0.2Nov 01, 2023
Comments
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Love. And I need more. Love the Pastel Defender Heliotrope vibes. Super cool, please continue.
far more story driven than i expected thus far, but color me hooked!
i'm so excited to see what comes next! (and add it to the Cyclopaedia!!)
This game rules! Really natural use of the Disco Elysium style dialogue and skills system, especially for such a different style of game. I hope that system catches on in a big way in other rpgs. Having a pdf open in another tab while playing was way more engaging than I expected it to be, though my mouse drawings could definitely use some work ^^' The intrigue is really strong, and so is the character dynamic between the player and the exp. I can't wait to see where this goes next!
Cool game reminds me of anodyne 2 ->
Definitely an inspiration, thanks for playing!
This game really digs into my indulgent desire to read the entire game book before playing the video game. I really enjoyed what exits so far and look forward to any updates!
Rly glad to hear that, and thank you for playing!
Going in, I thought this was going to be much more focused on the exploration and cataloging critters, and I was surprised by the story/RPG elements (pleasantly so). It seems like there's a ton of potential here for what direction the game could go- do you see this becoming a more story/character driven game, or a more atmospheric/exploratory game about cataloging the wildlife? Or a balance of the two?
I will admit that I only played through once, and I was too afraid to lick the [REDACTED]
Thanks for playing and sharing your thoughts!
Ideally I'll strike a balance yeah. I don't think they're mutually exclusive, as learning about the wildlife enables you to not only progress, but learn more about your own relationship to Anders.
Current version of the game doesn't showcase much of that though, hoping to push out an update to the demo which does add that more overtly. After that will be the long haul to a 1.0 release!
I love this, the world is so engaging ♥ I can't wait for the full game
Absolutely love the atmosphere conveyed by the artstyle and music. The writing makes this world feel strange and darkly capricious, I want to explore every nook of it.
Sorry I didn’t get around to playtesting the latest version of this when the survey was still open, but I’m so glad I came back to it!
The atmosphere and the tension are so THICK and the writing highly evocative. I love the combination of Disco Elysium’s inner voices, and the thinking, feeling exoskeletal companion à la In Other Waters. And since this game’s narrative seems set up for some psychological horror, I can imagine a scene where these interact with each other directly, bypassing the physical voice entirely.
You seem to have such a strong vision for this game that I rarely see, and I’d love to play the full version if/when it comes out!
Hey, gave this one a try and absolutely fell in love with it. Is there anyway you could make the survey available digitally? Would love to fill it out.
tysm for playing! The survey was for a research project but that's closed now, currently working the data into a paper that i need to turn in oncoming Monday lol. Game is still in development tho, and left the link to the survey in your video's comment section!!
No problem lol. Oh, i see. Godspeed on the paper, hopefully it goes well. Don't see the link, youtube might have smited it, but i appreciate the effort nonetheless!
Here you go in that case: scrubb'd
Filled it out, ty.
So...this is grilling.
It's almost amazing at what it does, unnerve you of what you don't know, of what you've never seen, but it feels like it shows you its horror too early for your introspection into its world to be flipped to fear.
I'm unsure if the game is supposed to be short, but for me it got to the blackhole section and then told me to fill out a survey (which never really showed anything that I'd write down) with the button to continue playing being impossible to reach since the mouse was still locked.
If the above issue is fixed (if it even is an issue), please notify me as I'd love to continue playing.
I will say that while I'm surprised by the quality of the game considering other games on itch, I'm sorta disappointed even in the little bit that I played by what the game was setting itself up to be, I'll say again that I felt the terror would be brewed over a long period of time, where the game will let you get cozy and snuggle up with it until it snaps your neck in your sleep.
4.7/5 out of the segment that I played, but since I missed a lot of it because of the last survey, it's possible that I misinterpreted and mistreated the entire game, maybe that the game isn't even supposed to be scary.
I'll happily delete and re-review if the issue gets fixed.
Thanks for playing and the feedback! The game is going to be a decent chunk longer, The current build is about 1/4th of the envisioned experience. I'll be putting out a devlog with the next big update so hopefully that'll notify you!
I LOVE the idea with the physical cyclopedia. You did a great job of making this world feel strange and alien, I'm looking forward to updates!