Demo dawns early for Venice After Dark

• Announcements by Sam Amiotte-Beaulieu
• Published:

Full version of surreal hand-drawn point-and-click visual novel mystery coming this month to Steam

Most tourists anticipate a relaxing getaway when visiting Venice’s iconic streets and canals, but players will find a “smorgasbord of crazy places, alleys, and secrets” awaiting them there instead in the upcoming Venice After Dark, by German developers Sebastian Grünwald and Weltenwandler Designagentur. 

Introverted programmer Aiko and her “quirky but super-smart” AI companion Thea wanted a simple vacation away from home, but after Aiko’s travel visa mysteriously vanishes, she is drawn deep into a prominent local family mystery where “reality and dreams, past and present” all begin to blur together. Fantastical characters like the giant fisherman Pietro and countless other “bizarre inhabitants” may provide assistance along the way, but others will “try to manipulate [Aiko] or have even worse intentions.” Thea’s technological capabilities may help unravel the increasingly strange occurrences Aiko encounters, but “sensory illusions” and unexplainable phenomena will challenge them both and perhaps even lead Aiko to question “what it actually means to be human.”

Venice After Dark is an “atmospheric mix of point-and-click adventure and visual novel,” depicted in a hand-drawn cartoon style reminiscent of the Adventure Time series. Traversal is handled by moving between slideshow backgrounds of “real locations … and real historical figures and events” but in a surreal and “unusually complex” version of Venice. Hotspots can be interacted with using a single-click and highlighted with the spacebar, but while Aiko can collect various inventory items, the correct object will be used automatically when needed if already in her possession. There will be puzzles to solve on your own, however, such as “hacking an elevator, investigating secret locations, and piecing together important clues.” An in-game “day and night gameplay loop” mixes information gathering while the sun is up and mastering “auditory tasks and optical illusions at night.” Occasionally when conversing with the city’s many “peculiar,” fully voiced and dynamically animated characters, you will need to make moral choices leading towards one of “three different endings depending on your decisions in the storyline.” 

Anyone wishing to take a trip to Venice After Dark can check out the playable demo on Steam for Windows, Mac, and Linux. If you desire a longer visit to this bizarre city of “myths, mysteries and meaning,” you won’t have to wait much longer as the full game is scheduled to be released sometime later this month.

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