First details uncovered for Lost & Found

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Narrative-driven "unconventional" Philippine adventure coming soon to Windows PC on Steam

Lost & Founds are great things, and they all work the same way: lose an item, head to the box of similarly misplaced stuff, and rummage around in the hopes that yours is among all the others. But the system works in a much different – and much more interesting, personal – way in the appropriately named Lost & Found, an upcoming narrative-driven adventure by solo developer Kurt Reodica of ShaggyBearGames.

Players control Rico, an anthropomorphic dog and "laid-off artist struggling to find new opportunities in the city." It's 2007 when you've finally had enough and decide to head back to your rural hometown of Luisiana. But things have changed since you left, and the town is much different than you remember. Times are tough, many of your friends have left, "businesses are shutting down, and the hangout spots [you] used to love" are in bad shape. With work scarce, you take the only job you can find at the Lost & Found office. There, instead of waiting for people to come to you, you must set out to return each item to its rightful owner first-hand. Sometimes the task is simple, but often you'll need to investigate more deeply, compounded by the fact that "not everyone tells the truth" and there are those who "may try to claim items that are not theirs." It's your responsibility to "gather clues, listen carefully, and decide who is lying," because "every item holds a piece of someone’s life, and returning it to the wrong person will have consequences."

Inspired by the developer's own experiences growing up in the Philippines, Lost & Found is an "unconventional" adventure with an equally unusual "hybrid animation style" that blends 2D, 3D, pixel art, collage, "claymation-like" and more. The blended aesthetic is not merely for artistic purposes, as each character has been "purposely designed to look and feel unique, like each of them has a story to tell." So too do the items in your possession, no matter how small, as a "worn wallet, an old photograph, or a forgotten receipt might seem ordinary, but each item holds a story waiting to be discovered." Reuniting people with important belongings helps you "reconnect with the folks you left behind," and it's up to you whom you choose to believe, distrust, and perhaps even befriend. Either way, it pays to listen closely to everything you hear, even if it seems unrelated to the delivery at hand, as "every townsfolk you meet carries memories, gossip, secrets, surprises and even lies," and you never know what details you "might find valuable down the line." 

There is no firm release date for Lost & Found, but hopefully it won't be too much longer as it's listed as "coming soon" on Steam for Windows PC.