Kickstarter gets underway for 13:Origin

Written by Jack Allin — September 21, 2021 at 10:16

Adventure games with protagonists locked in asylums aren't all that uncommmon. What is uncommon is playing not a patient but a psychologist imprisoned there and forced to escape. This is the premise of Corvus Studio's upcoming three-part puzzle-adventure series 13:Origin, whose free standalone prologue has just been released along with a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. 

After a brief exchange through a closed door with "your most dangerous (and clever) patient," the prologue finds you locked in your spacious office as head of a mental institution. In order to escape the facility, you will need to solve a complex series of layered puzzles crafted just for you. In doing so, however, you'll begin to uncover "a secret that has been around since the beginning of mankind." As you "untie each knotted loop" in this ever-lengthening "web of clues," you'll come to realize how deeply the doctor and patient are really connected, and just how far back this mystical tale goes. 

Presented in free-roaming first-person 3D, 13:Origin seeks to go beyond the traditional limitations of escape room-style puzzle games by introducing a much more integral narrative. In contrast to the photorealistic present-day rooms and hallways in the psychiatric hospital, the legendary backstory is revealed through a much different hand-painted aesthetic whose details are intriguingly teased in the game's first trailer. The gameplay too is designed to transcend the mechanical conundrums of titles like The Room, requiring you to "leverage the mechanics, the story, your instincts, and most importantly, 'doubt' to solve puzzles meticulously crafted for you."

The prologue is available now on Steam but there's meant to be more where that came from, with three subsequent episodes planned in total, each much larger than the demo. To help finance production of the first full installment, the developers have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise 14,900 US by October 20th. If successful, we could see 13:Origin – Part 1 released for Windows PC as early as the same time next year.