Oniri Islands: A Different Type of Narrative Adventure, With a Different Type of Controller

Currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, Oniri Islands is a twist on the toys-to-life genre set to bring accessible adventuring to mobile platforms.

The Leftfield Collection at Rezzed was home to a lot of interesting titles, however Tourmaline Studio’s Oniri Islands stood out for different reasons than most;. There’s rarely much of a theme in the Leftfield Collection, however  the vast majority are normally PC based, aside from the odd peripheral-based game, in this case a large model of a human body in the form of Alex Johansson’s Vaccination… but, I digress. Oniri Islands stood out because not only was it not running on a PC, but it was also running with peripherals; models of the game’s two characters.

Camille Attard, Co-Founder & Game Designer at Tourmaline Studio, explained to me the jist of the game as it was demonstrated to several onlookers. The game is a fully-voiced, narrated adventure title aimed to be accessible to all ages. It follows the adventures of siblings Mina & Time as they explore the titular islands, all narrated by the character’s grandmother, who has a remarkable level of knowledge about the mysterious setting.

The two statuettes, which are powered by a small static charge from human contact (a technology from Volumique), are moved around on the screen; with the charge, and the markings on the underside of the figurines signalling what is where to the game. In addition to capturing the location of the toys, due to the nature of the markings on the underside, the game is also aware of the facing direction – which ties into the navigation aspect.

What with the two children adventuring together, and the two figurines, the game is perfect for co-operative adventure; be that between friends, siblings, or child & guardian play. The latter, really, is what caused it to hold my attention; there’s really not much in the way of tablet gaming that actively promotes child & parent interaction, and the fact that the game fully narrated means that even if I do take over, and one of my younger children take over, there’ll be nothing lost in translation as there would have been in text.

In addition to the two figurines, the core box also includes several masks which fit onto the characters and relate to the story; that said, their use is entirely optional, as Camille explained, as the additional cost of implementing technology that used that, and manufacturing a line of replacement parts (as they would now be essential) would have led to a steeper core set, as well as a higher Kickstarter target.

Each of those masks tie into a Totem Animal, which alongside the Children of the River (inspired by Peter Pan’s Lost Boys) make up the majority of the extra cast through the game’s included six adventures. There are more stories to follow afterwards depending on the reception, that said, as they’ve developed an extensive setting for the game; with writing helmed by David Calvo who –among other things– was behind the exceptional KWAAN.

Those who back the Kickstarter can get the core edition (on the Early Bird pledge) for about €28  + shipping, however it’s anticipated release price once stocked at retail is estimated to be about €45.

At time of writing the project is currently just over 60% funded, with 15 days left until it finishes. You can find the Kickstarter here.