SOMERVILLE

It’s a shame Playdead’s Dino Patti and Arnt Jensen have parted ways, but if there’s a positive to be taken from the split, it could effectively mean we get two games as good as Inside. Certainly, Somerville is cut from a similar cloth to the Danish developer’s extraordinary thriller, as a puzzleplatformer with a focus on visual storytelling featuring vulnerable characters thrust into perilous situations – in this case two parents trying to keep their young child (and pet dog) safe from an otherworldly invasion. Cue frantic sprints to safety, heavy objects to push and murky waters to swim through with an eerie green flare to light your way (and, no doubt, to illuminate something horrible beneath the surface). Director Chris Olsen is an animator and previs artist by trade, and it shows in the cinematic framing of Somerville’s action and the nuanced movements of its human cast.