Enter the captivating world of Harold Halibut, a game that defies industry standards with its handcrafted charm and engaging storytelling.
Harold Halibut is a very special game. It reminds us of a truth too often overshadowed by giant game studios, million-dollar CEOs, delayed release dates, and frustrating bugs; gaming is a craft.
Exploring The Depths
Harold Halibut is only a few days old, but it's already making waves. Small German studio Slow Bros has been working on the game since 2012. But what is so special about it?
You play as Harold Halibut, a lab assistant living on a city-sized spaceship submerged in the depths of an alien sea. The story takes place 250 years after your home — an ark-like spaceship — left Earth on the brink of nuclear war in search of a habitable planet.
While most of the inhabitants have resigned themselves to their underwater home, it seems that only you and Professor Mareaux, who you work for, are working tirelessly to get the ship to leave for a new, drier world. Until a fateful encounter throws him into a world he never imagined - one that may hold the key to Mareaux's plans...
Unveiled Craftsmanship
Harold Halibut is entirely handcrafted. Starting as a dinner conversation about stop-motion and story games, it wasn't long before the first miniature sets and kneaded figures were created.
Everything you see in the game was handcrafted in painstaking detail. Everything was photographed to create 3D models and animated with motion capture. Even the soundtrack was composed and recorded by developer Onat Hekimoglu.
Harold Halibut is a slow-paced, unexcited game that doesn't try to dazzle with a dramatic story or crazy game mechanics. But it doesn't have to. It's a game that lives on its melancholy, dry atmosphere and sarcastic dialog.
It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it is certainly an amazing result of skilled craftsmanship and creative developers who have a passion for their work.
You can play Harold Halibut now on PC, Xbox Series X/S and PS5.