Carimara: Beneath the Forlorn Limbs preparing to deal later this year

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Short dialogue-driven dark fairytale adventure coming soon to Steam and itch.io for Windows and Mac

We all know the expression "play your cards right," but outside of the poker table it's usually meant figuratively. Not so in indie developer Bastinus Rex's upcoming Carimara: Beneath the forlorn limbs, however, a dark fairytale adventure in which playing cards is your only means of communicating in a matter of life and death. 

Players control the unseen Carimara, a "small, mute, sorcerous" creature "born of moss and mirrorlight." You possess "borrowed magic" but are skilled in only one thing: asking questions, a talent that is about to be put to the test with the highest of stakes. In a house "stitched from grief and riddles," you must explore and interact with its inhabitants, crafting questions "from dust, from bone, from whatever’s left behind." Ask the right questions and you'll be able to "conjure a mysterious ghost" with the answers you uncover. Ask the wrong questions, however, or press a matter too far, and "you might wake something that remembers your name."

That all sounds mysterious enough, but not so different from a standard narrative adventure. What sets Carimara apart is that the questions you ask can only be derived from magical cards created when you observe and interact with the environment. In this shabby old house, presented in a raw, nearly monochromatic early 3D art style, "every object is a memory" that you can capture in cards and present in conversation. The game promises a "spine-tingling point-and-click horror" experience, but there are no enemies to fight or hide from in a game "inspired by Normandy folklore." It's just you and your wits in piecing together the secret mysteries of this place. The whole game is intended to take less than an hour to successfully complete, but choose poorly and it might come to a premature end instead. 

No firm target release date has been announced just yet, but Carimara: Beneath the forlorn limbs is on track to launch on Steam and itch.io sometime before the end of the year for Windows and Mac.