''Little Orpheus'' is a 2020

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

- platform game developed by

The Chinese Room The Chinese Room (formerly Thechineseroom) is a British video game developer based in Brighton that is best known for exploration games. The company originated as a mod team for ''Half-Life 2'', based at the University of Portsmouth in 2007, ...

and published by

Sumo Digital Sumo Digital Ltd. is a British video game developer based in Sheffield and the principal subsidiary of Sumo Group since 2017. The company was founded in 2003 by four former members of the management team of Infogrames Studios. History Sumo D ...

. The game was released on

Apple Arcade Apple Arcade is a video game subscription service offered by Apple Inc. It is available through a dedicated tab of the App Store on devices running iOS 13, visionOS, tvOS 13, iPadOS 13, and macOS Catalina or later. The service launched o ...

on 12 June 2020 for

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

, and

tvOS tvOS (formerly Apple TV Software) is an operating system developed by Apple for the Apple TV, a digital media player. In the first-generation Apple TV, Apple TV Software was based on Mac OS X. The software for the second-generation and later ...

. Ports for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

and

Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series, succeeding the previous generation's Xbox One. Released on November 10, 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part o ...

were released by subsidiary label Secret Mode on 13 September 2022.

Gameplay

The game is a 2.5D

platform game A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...

, featuring cinematic platforming and environmental storytelling. Players control protagonist Ivan Ivanovich as he traverse fantastical landscapes, jumping across terrain and ropes and occasionally interacting with environmental objects for progression.

Plot

In 1962, Soviet

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

Ivan Ivanovich was sent into an

extinct volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the Crust (geology), crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth ...

to explore the centre of the earth in an atomically powered exploration capsule named Little Orpheus; he was never heard of again until he reappeared in 1965, noting that he had lost Little Orpheus and was taken into custody. Ivan proceeds to tell an unnamed General about his purported journey, where he traverses untamed wilds and extreme terrain, while attempting to rescue Little Orpheus from an apparently living and insane Eduard von Toll, who enslaved humanoid beings named Menkv and attempted to use Little Orpheus to manipulate time and consequently the human race. Eventually, his story becomes increasingly absurd and logically flawed to the point he could not continue, revealing his story to be a farce covering up his

desertion Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...

from the faulty Little Orpheus. Despite contemplating

execution by firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French , rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are usually rea ...

, the general was entertained by the story and impressed by Ivan's storytelling skills; he helped Ivan complete his story to record it and spared him of execution, instead allowing him to retire with a

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

by the

insanity defense The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative Defense (legal), defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to a mental illness, psychiatric disease ...

. Ivan returns home to his dog

Laika Laika ( ; , ; – 3 November 1957) was a Soviet space dog who was one of the first animals in space and the first to orbit the Earth. A stray mongrel from the streets of Moscow, she flew aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecraft, launched into lo ...

(whom he had apparently rescued from orbit) and told her his imaginary return to the surface, which was omitted from his conversation with the general due to a lack of time.

Development and release

The game was first shown in an

showcase at the Apple Event on 25 March 2019. The company's Twitter account posted a teaser with a cryptic message in the form of a telegram.

Creative Europe Creative Europe is a European Union programme for the cultural and creative sectors. In its first phase, going from 2014 to 2020, it had a budget of € 1.47 billion, which were expanded to € 2.44 billion in its second phase (2021-2027). His ...

had published the application of successful grants in August 2017, with a project "Little Orpheus" being awarded a maximum of grant €72 339 with 50% co-funding. Creative Director Dan Pinchbeck said the game's intent was described as applying the studio's "arthouse background to traditional genres moving forward" and with a world filled with ridiculous "

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

space technology, Russian mythology, and ancient creatures", like a homage to

Ray Harryhausen Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of both fields. In a career spanning more than 40 ...

movies. The game was released on

on 12 June 2020. A new game plus mode was released on 9 October 2020. An update added episode 9 on 15 January 2021. The title was set to release on Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on 1 March 2022 but was delayed due to its

themes in light of the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

. The game launched on 13 September 2022.

Reception

Critical reception

''Little Orpheus'' received "mixed or average" reviews according to

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. Matt Gardner writing for ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' gave the game a mixed review, praising its story but criticizing its gameplay: "''Little Orpheus'' over-relies its strongest assets–great voice acting, an intriguing script, beautiful art, and engaging gameplay–and doesn’t hit these highs with its core gameplay." ''

Nintendo Life Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British digital media company based in London. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and ot ...

''s Lowell Bell criticized the narration of the game: "there’s no narrative payoff here, no greater meaning or memorable conclusion that sticks with you".

Accolades

Develop awarded it Best Mobile Game at the Star Awards in 2021.

Pocket Gamer ''Pocket Gamer'' is a video game website and former print magazine that focuses on mobile, portable and handheld games. It was launched in 2005 by Steel Media Limited. The publication covers portable and mobile gaming formats, including iPhone, ...

awarded it Best Platformer Game in 2021.

References

External links

Official Website
{{The Chinese Room 2020 video games Adventure games Apple Arcade games The Chinese Room games IOS games MacOS games Nintendo Switch games Platformers PlayStation 4 games PlayStation 5 games Side-scrolling platformers Single-player video games Sumo Digital games TvOS games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games scored by Jessica Curry Video games set in outer space Windows games Xbox One games Xbox Series X and Series S games