The Puppet of Tersa to take center stage next spring

Written by Jack Allin — November 18, 2018 at 11:20

Usually a failed Kickstarter sounds the death knell for a game, but sometimes developers are able to regroup and still see a project through to fruition. Such is the case with Madorium's episodic series The Puppet of Tersa, which managed to continue even without crowdfunding and is now on track to debut next spring.

The Puppet of Tersa stars an inquisitive young girl named Cynthia, whose curiosity yields a surprising answer to the question: what's under the bed at night? Cynthia soon finds herself "in the strange and eerie world of Tersa, a place both whimsical and creepy, with bizarre creatures and unusual inhabitants." Now she'll need to find her way home, with the help of a fairy guide named Tippo, but as she seeks to escape she learns that "something mystical prevents her from leaving."

Despite its child protagonist and fantastical environments, this "storybook" adventure is no whimsical fairy tale. Instead, its digitally hand-painted art style "blends childlike innocence with something darker." Gameplay will consist of traditional third-person point-and-click fare, focusing on exploration, interaction and overcoming obstacles in order to progress. Many of the items you encounter are interactive, "providing players with tools needed to solve puzzles and the opportunity to learn more about the world of Tersa."

The first of five parts in total, entitled A Curious Place, is due for release on Windows PC sometime in the second quarter of 2019, but in the meantime you can check the game out firsthand through the downloadable demo on Steam, which includes three different areas to explore.