| Tales From Off-Peak City Vol. 1 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Cosmo D |
| Publisher(s) | Cosmo D |
| Designer(s) | Greg Heffernan |
| Programmer(s) | Greg Heffernan |
| Artist(s) | Greg Heffernan |
| Composer(s) | Greg Heffernan |
| Engine | Unity |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | May 15, 2020 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Tales From Off-Peak City Vol. 1 is a 2020 adventure game developed and published by Cosmo D. Players explore a surreal city. It is the sequel to Off-Peak and The Norwood Suite and was followed by Betrayal at Club Low .
Two mysterious people task the player to steal a saxophone from Caetano Grosso, a former musician who now runs a pizzeria. The game is played from a first-person perspective and focuses on exploring the world. While posing as a pizzeria employee, the player makes custom-order pizzas based on abstract and somewhat nonsensical phrases (which writer Matthew J.R. Parsons likened to Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies) [1] and meets the various citizens of Off-Peak City. After delivering the pizzas, the player can sneak through customers' houses and photograph the surreal objects found in them. The game does not have voice acting; instead, non-player characters' speech is rendered as music. [2]
Greg Heffernan made the game mostly by himself using Unity and Blender. [3] After being released as a part of a Humble Bundle, the game was released on May 15, 2020. [4]
Tales From Off-Peak City Vol. 1 received positive reviews on Metacritic. [5] Despite his fears that it might be impenetrable, Rock Paper Shotgun 's reviewer found it to be a very fun game that is enjoyable on a surface level. He felt that the game helps players discover their own meaning without being pretentious, likening it to being subtly tricked into having deep thoughts. [2] Eurogamer wrote, "It's bizarre and unsettling, yet also captivating and hugely engaging." [6] Comparing it to the works of film director David Lynch, Adventure Gamers said it may be too weird for some players but recommended it to those who are open-minded or fans of surrealism. [7]
Slant Magazine and Rock Paper Shotgun included it in their best games of 2020, [8] [9] and it was nominated for the Nuovo Award at the 2020 Independent Games Festival. [3]
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