News

March 20, in the year of our Lord 2021 – Adelaide, South Australia – Orchid of Redemption today announced that their magical golf-platformer is available on Steam Early Access for PC and Mac. Players are invited to share in a co-creative community, helping to shape the development of Mage Drops as it morphs through the Early Access program.

“Responding to the pandemic panic of our times, we felt that calm and simplicity were needed. We wanted to create a magical world where players can hone their gameplay skills in a graceful way,” said Alexander Thumm, Director of Orchid of Redemption. “Through Steam early access, we aim to create that world in collaboration with a community who are excited both to play within it and to help guide its growth.”

Beyond the rich co-creative potentials of Early Access, Orchid of Redemption is using this, their debut title, as an incubator for a new era of transparent and beautiful game design, aiming not just for visual and gameplay clarity, but also to offer an experience of emotional and mental clarity through the avatar’s uplifting journey.

“The vast majority of games are designed to hurl us into a state of constant jeopardy or anxiety, most commonly where we’re motivated by danger or an anxious skinner-box-driven feeling of ‘just one more’. But historically, a lot of the counter-response to that (such as walking-simulators) has ended up feeling aimless or frustratingly non-interactive. So the goal with Orchid of Redemption is to discover a new middle-ground where we drop the anxiety but keep the fun.”

Gameplay:

Mage Drops is a magical golf-style platformer, combining elements of pinball, puzzle platforming and a unique fantasy magic twist. Each shot allows players to use magic to continue to influence the ball mid-flight, adding a whole dimension of dynamic gameplay to the traditional golf formula.

Setting:

The environment is full of interactive magical capabilities. Some can be used to your advantage, and others are hazards and traps: shots can cling to jelly walls, bounce off bubbles, be propelled by explosions, float on clouds, burn away obstacles with fire, gain powers by flying through magic rings, stimulate plants to grow into new platforms and much more!

Feel:

• serene music, beautiful nature, and low pressure gameplay. The perfect game to relax with

• gameplay is simple enough for a complete beginner but rewards seasoned players for honing their skills

Goals:

• a unique scoring system combines the traditional strokes/par of golf with timer-based scoring. So you need to be precise AND fast to discover all the game has to offer

• collectibles and platforming puzzles: Master ingenious golf-style platforming challenges to win gold in each cup, unlock all eight worlds, and discover all the secret artefacts

Journey:

• master the use of magic: fire, water, wind, earth, electricity and much more to find the fastest way through courses and discover all the secrets!

• eight unique worlds including forest, underwater, machine and cosmic realms!

• each world is themed, so new gameplay possibilities, tricks, and traps unfold as new worlds are unlocked

No word on a physical copy version of this game on this system(s) in the US at this time. Families are required to pay for Internet usage fees to download this game. For more information click here.

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