Factsheet

Developer:
Alexander Bruce
Based in Melbourne, Australia

Release date:
January 31st, 2013

Platforms:
PC (Steam)

Website:
antichamber-game.com

Regular Price:

USDTBA

Description

Antichamber is a mind-bending psychological exploration game where nothing can be taken for granted. Discover an Escher-like world where hallways wrap around upon each other, spaces reconfigure themselves, and accomplishing the impossible may just be the only way forward.

History

An early version of Antichamber was first presented at the Tokyo Game Show for Sense of Wonder Night 2009. The game at that time was a philosophical art piece titled "Hazard: The Journey Of Life", created entirely by Alexander Bruce as a mod for Unreal Tournament 3 during his final year of university. During the Tokyo Game Show Alexander met with Mike Capps, president of Epic Games, and was informed about the as yet unannounced Unreal Development Kit. Development of a standalone version began in late 2009.

Throughout its development, the game went on to receive many honours in major competitions including Make Something Unreal, the PAX10, IndieCade and the Independent Games Festival. Alexander also brought on additional collaborators for sound design, music, modelling and illustration.

In July 2011, Hazard was renamed to Antichamber in preparation for its commercial release, as the game had undergone significant changes since its inception. In March 2012, it became the winner for Technical Excellence in the Independent Games Festival. In April 2012, Antichamber was announced as the 7th game to receive funding from the Indie Fund to help it through its final stages of development.

Antichamber will be released on January 31st, 2013.

Features

  • A deeply psychological experience that will make you question everything you know about how a game works.
  • Mind-bending challenges that will subvert your expectations at every twist and turn.
  • An enormous, seamless non-Euclidean world to explore.
  • Lifelike soundscapes developed by Robin Arnott and an ambient soundtrack composed by Siddhartha Barnhoorn.
  • A gun that can create, destroy and manipulate matter, allowing you to discover new ways to overcome your surroundings.

Videos

Antichamber Launch Trailer YouTube

Antichamber Teaser YouTube, .mp4

Awards & Recognition

    • "Winner - VentureBeat Top Indie Game of PAX 2012" Penny Arcade Expo, 2012
    • "Winner - Machinima Best of PAX 2012" Penny Arcade Expo, 2012
    • "Winner - Technical Excellence" Independent Games Festival, 2012
    • "Honourable Mention - Seamus McNally Grand Prize" Independent Games Festival, 2012
    • "Winner - PAX10" Penny Arcade Expo, 2011
    • "Finalist - Best Design" IndieCade, 2011
    • "Winner - Best Game" Freeplay, 2011
    • "Winner - Best Design" Freeplay, 2011
    • "Finalist - Best Technology" Freeplay, 2011
    • "Finalist - Nuovo Award" Independent Games Festival, 2011
    • "Finalist - D3D Vision Award" Independent Games Festival, 2011
    • "Honourable Mention - Technical Excellence" Independent Games Festival, 2011
    • "Finalist - Indie Game Challenge" DICE, 2011
    • "Finalist - Main Competition" IGF China, 2010
    • "Winner - Technical Excellence" IndiePub Third Developer Contest, 2010
    • "Showcase - IndieCade @ E3" E3, 2010
    • "Finalist - Best Design" Freeplay, 2010
    • "Finalist - Best Art" Freeplay, 2010
    • "Finalist - Best Writing" Freeplay, 2010
    • "Honourable Mention - Nuovo Award" Independent Games Festival, 2010
    • "Winner - 5th for Best Game" Make Something Unreal Grand Finals, 2010
    • "Winner - 3rd for Best Educational Category" Make Something Unreal Grand Finals, 2010
    • "Winner - 1st for Best Level Design" Make Something Unreal Phase 4, 2009
    • "Winner - 3rd for Best Non-FPS Mod" Make Something Unreal Phase 4, 2009
    • "Winner - Best Independent Game" Game Connect Asia Pacific, 2009
    • "Showcase - Sense of Wonder Night" Tokyo Game Show, 2009

    Selected Articles

      • "Antichamber will hereby known as Oh My God, My Favorite Game of PAX... If you get a chance to play this, do not hesitate."
        - Stephen Totilo, Kotaku
      • "There are a lot of heady concepts at play in Antichamber -- things like perception, Pavlovian response, psychological conditioning, impossible objects and spacial distortions."
        - Griffin McElroy, Joystiq
      • "It's a game about subverting players' expectations. As gamers, we've come to develop a certain way of thinking about games and Antichamber seeks to totally screw with our heads."
        - Billy Shibley, Machinima
      • "Even as the developer told me what the game was doing to mess with my brain while I was playing it, it still succeeded in messing with my brain."
        - John Walker, Rock Paper Shotgun
      • "As much as I want to get my hands on the finished version of Antichamber, I'm almost looking forward to seeing how everyone else reacts to it more."
        - Jordan Devore, Destructoid
      • "As finely crafted and varied in its puzzles as it is gloriously unbounded in its avant garde artistic flair."
        - David Valjalo, EDGE

      About Alexander Bruce

      Boilerplate
      Alexander Bruce is an experimental game designer from Melbourne, Australia.

      More information
      More information on Alexander Bruce, our logo & relevant media are available here.

      Antichamber Credits

      Alexander Bruce
      Creator

      Robin Arnott
      Sound Design, WRAUGHK

      Siddhartha Barnhoorn
      Music, Freelancer

      presskit() by Rami Ismail (Vlambeer) - also thanks to these fine folks