Armikrog

When the creators of Earthworm Jim and The Neverhood announced their new project, Armikrog, on Kickstarter, fans raced to embrace the quirky new stop-motion animation game. After raising nearly a million dollars, the point-and-click adventure project is moving full speed ahead.

Pencil Test Studios envisions Armikrog as a spiritual successor to the Neverhood games and a love letter to its fans.

“Many of the fans who backed the Kickstarter for Armikrog were long-time Neverhood fans hoping to see another game like it, so our plan has been to create something new while still providing a familiar feel to the experience,” says co-writer and animator Mike Dietz.

The adventure centers on Tommynaut and his partner in crime — a blind dog named Beak Beak. The pair's spaceship crashes on a mysterious planet and soon they become locked in a mysterious fortress called Armikrog. You swap between both characters to get through various obstacles in the fortress. For instance, Tommynaut has the strength to move heavy objects and reach high switches, while Beak Beak can crawl through tight, small spaces and retrieve objects. Beak Beak eats the objects and then throws them up when you need them.

You also see the world differently when you swap to Beak Beak; since he’s blind, everything is in black and white and he can see secret codes that aren't visible to Tommynaut. The two work well together for gameplay purposes, but they provide an interesting dynamic. “Tommynaut has higher ideals and desires to be a hero like his ancestors, while Beak Beak is more animal, following his stomach, goofing off when possible and telling the occasional fib,” Dietz says.

The game is a mix of third- and first-person puzzles where you need to collect items and interact with the landscape to progress to the next area. During my brief demo, I did everything from moving a furry, orange box monster out of the way to manipulating a broken track to get my zip pod through. Like the Neverhood games, the user interface is minimal, devoid of inventory management.

“We also have some more cerebral elements that allow you to make connections between visual and audio clues spread throughout the game in order to piece together the back-story of where you are and how you got there,” Dietz says. For those unfamiliar with stop-motion clay animation, think Gumby or Wallace and Gromit. Everything in Armikrog is handmade. Tommynaut and Beak Beak are made out of clay, and the backdrops are created out of everyday objects, looking like mini dioramas.

“We've used model parts, circuit boards, old radios, kitchenware, automotive parts, board games, Christmas ornaments, etc.” Dietz says. “Whatever works is the rule. My favorite is the set [animation director Ed Schofield] built for the game by cutting an accordion in half. In the game it’s called, appropriately enough, The Accordion Room.”

That's what stands out most about Armikrog. You never know what the next area will hold or what ordinary object it will be made from.

“There is something magical about seeing what you know is a real, tactile object come to life and start moving around on screen,” Dietz says. Not many video games use clay animation, and I can't deny I found it charming. “It’s the slight analog imperfections inherent to stop motion that give it a more handmade feel, letting you sense the artist behind the art rather than hiding behind digital perfection.”