Hello there! I hope you are doing well. I hate to break it to you, but it’s already April.
The team at Enchanted Works has been working on Nomori at a slow but steady pace for the last months. We’re not developing full-time yet, but a lot has happened since the last update and I’d love to fill you in!
Nomori was at GDC!
The Game Developers Conference is probably the most prestigious and most expensive event in the game development industry. We did not expect to attend before Nomori would be very close to release. However, we were invited to showcase a new demo of the game at the Made With Unity booth and did not reject the offer!
It was a great experience for two reasons. First and foremost, we’re still looking for funding. Talking to dozens and dozens of people in person at GDC is great networking. Even when some people couldn’t offer meaningful help, they would come back to the booth later bringing a person with them they thought should see the game. Secondly, hearing people react to our game in person is really fulfilling! Nice comments, feedback, curious questions and compliments confirm that our hard work is starting to pay off and that we have a chance at finding a publishing deal for Nomori. It motivates us to continue working, even in the current state of the industry.
Nomori’s new features
So what’s this new demo you say? It’s a new version that smoothes out a lot of things from the alpha that is on Steam. We’ve been posting sneak-peaks already in our Discord, and I’ll share with you the biggest changes here:
- Nomori’s art direction has basically been rebuilt from the ground up, after exploring styles in the alpha version. We’ve now defined the look and feel for Nomori! In the new version, we are showing the first of four environments the game will take place in, the Autumn Domain. I’ll let you guess what the other three will be. We also introduce the first NPC characters!
- Part of solidifying the artstyle is working out the world of Nomori. Who lives there? What’s their story? In this process we’ve changed a few characters. For example, the bunny spirit that will accompany Kiko during her journey has a name now: Yuki! And the big stone block you can perform telekinesis on is now alive as a Slimebun! Trademark pending.
- We added onto the main gameplay. On your journey through Nomori’s twisted levels, you will be on the lookout for stranded spirits to take with you in your backpack. Prepare for spirits to be out of bounds. We know you will look.
- New gameplay mechanics have been added. Now time-reversal is operational through portals, which increases puzzle potential by approximately 500%! Slimebuns of various sizes affect each other physically in a meaningful way, and checkpoints let you solve levels faster by failing faster.
Cool, when can I play?
We’re preparing this new version to replace the alpha version that’s on Steam right now. It will be more reflective of the finished game, but not resemble it by a long shot. Our main goal still is to get user feedback and improve the experience of the game. That’s why it will still be free to play! I cannot say exactly when the update will drop. Be sure to follow us, for example through our Discord or Steam to stay notified!
That’s all for now. Until next time!
- Joeri
