Puppet powered

An old-fashioned approach to modelling yields unique results

Stop-motion adventuring from the developer of Felix The Reaper

Influenced by games such as Inside, Little Nightmares and Unravel, Vokabulantis

features objects constructed by hand and photographed to become in-game assets, turning real-life puppets into animated characters Kurt and Karla on a quest to restore peace to the titular land.

By definition, projects involving stop-motion animation are laborious, risky, time-consuming affairs – as anyone still waiting for Jack Houston And The Necronauts might attest, some nine years on from its successful Kickstarter campaign. But if Vokabulantis’s

crowdfunding bears fruit, we’re confident in its chances of reaching release, not least because designer Esben Kjaer Ravn previously stayed the course for eight years in developing Felix The Reaper.

This new game is projected to need three more years of development, with target formats yet to be agreed. With Aardman and Laika animation veterans on board, it won’t want for a level of care and attention to detail that should still turn heads in 2024.