Surreal sandboxy first-person puzzler Bokida sets May release date
Worlds are colliding.
Back in 2014 our Chris Donlan raved about a strange first-person puzzle game called Bokida. At the time it was merely a student game prototype, but developer Rice Cooker Republic polled its audience to see if they'd be interested in buying a full game that expanded upon its premise. As it turns out, they were, and now that game is coming with the newly subtitled Bokida - Heartfelt Reunion receiving a Steam release on 17th May.
The peculiar puzzler places players in a surreal ivory landscape loomed over by an expanding black sun. Your goal is to unite the dark and light worlds together by seeking out on monoliths.
Player actions are limited to four verbs; you can construct structures out of blocks, slice them in half, push them around, or wipe them away. Think of it like a 3D rendition of MS Paint's simplest tools, only with physics.
"If you're eager to hunt down and trigger all the monoliths as quickly as possible, Bokida's all about using your powers to create ladders and staircases that will allow you to gain access to the map's more inaccessible areas," Donlan explained of his time with Bokida's prototype. "[But] if you're just up for playing around with the dreamy, rather gentle physics and the surprisingly strong pleasures of building something before whittling it down to pieces, you'll find that this austere environment makes a wonderful playground for aimless tinkerers."
If you'd like to give Bokida's early build a go, there's a demo on Rice Cooker Republic's official site.