Provoron showing signs of something to crow about

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Hand-drawn "allegorical" dark fantasy adventure coming soon to Steam for Windows and Mac

It can be hard fitting in as a child, particularly if you're a black sheep (or a white crow) who is noticeably different from everyone else. This is the reality for the feathered protagonist of Tara Kan's upcoming side-scrolling adventure Provoron, a dark fantasy adventure that serves as an allegorical tale of her own painful childhood. 

Ankou is an outcast among his fellow crows but still wants to be accepted. But that is especially difficult because Ankou is the only one able to see the invasion of countless "mischievous red demons" who not only break things and wreak havoc for Ankou, but are also able to "perch on his head and shoulders, making life feel overwhelmingly heavy at times," as well as to "crawl ... into the heads of other crows" and confuse them. Shutting his eyes to block them out doesn't help, as that just sharpens his remaining senses to other terrors such as "scary monsters." And so, despite his community's rejection of him, Ankou makes the "strong-willed decision to ... find a way to get rid of these devilish offspring" and save the world for everyone – or at least "change it a little" and hopefully form some friendships along the way. 

Provoron is a stylish, nearly monocromatic hand-drawn adventure that mostly plays out in a side-scrolling manner. To progress in your quest, you must solve puzzles that help you better understand a world "filled with drama, complexity, and danger." You'll also have to make "difficult decisions" about who to trust, which is harder than usual with demons trying to confound you every step of the way. The game is meant to stand on its own as a literal dark fantasy adventure, but on a deeper level it also represents an allegory for the developer's own troubled childhood. Along with the main character, who is forced to gradually face "how unhappy he is," there are three teenagers representing Tara Kan herself at other stages of her life, who are able to help Ankou "recognize and come to terms with the horrors in his life by sharing stories of their own pain." Most of these horrors remain off-screen, as the experience is not intended to scare players but present a journey of "self-discovery and the struggle to understand what’s right: to change yourself to fit the world, or to reshape the world to fit you?"

There is no target release date for Provoron just yet, but the game is "coming soon" for Windows and Mac, with an invitation for playtesters currently available on Steam.