Thatgamecompany is in the final part of its three-game deal with the PlayStation Network, and through that five-year run, gamers have gotten to know Jenova Chen, Kellee Santiago and the rest of the team’s work. Their studio strives to create games that offer a different experience. They want to explore how video games can tap the rest of human emotion outside of fun.
Starting with flOw, they’re titles have been, suffice to say, different. But they’ve had some common traits: They always sought to offer the simplest way to play often using tilt controls. Their games also have a gliding, free-flowing quality to them. Then there’s the music score, which capture the moodines and the evocative nature of their projects.
All these concepts go into the development of thatgamecompany’s third game for PSN — Journey. I had a chance to play the game at a San Francisco event last week. At first glance, it looks like the team’s most conventional project. Players have a physical avatar now instead of an abstract shape in the water or a disembodied force flying through the air. Journey takes place in a desert as players try to reach a mountain in the far-off distance.
More on Journey on the jump