Sephonie
A downloadable game for Windows and macOS
Memories linger across time, deep beneath the island’s surface...
In this story-driven 3D platformer, explore Sephonie Island's massive cave network, and link with unidentified species using the novel Puzzle Grid system. Explore the island's depths as shipwrecked biologists Amy, Ing-wen, and Riyou, whose personal histories come to bear on the shifting spiritual landscape of the island depths.
Parkour-esque platforming
Use an acrobatic moveset to navigate lush, jade canopies and rusty sandstone spires. Fling yourself over high ledges using the satisfying Teledash Vault and deftly Wallrun across dangerous outcroppings.
Grapple through the air with the help of long-tongued Ribbats or climb tall cliffs via sticky-ridged Gripshrooms. Linking with certain creatures will grant you new abilities to reach the farthest depths of the island.
The Relaxing and Casual Puzzle Grid System
The trio must research the island's unknown creatures by Linking with them. Using the one-of-a-kind "Puzzle Grid" system, you'll rotate and place a series of multi-colored pieces onto the board to create large, same-colored islands. Each creature has different challenges to overcome!
There's no 'right' solution to Linking: use your intuition to react to the creature's moves and what appears on the board, and you will soon be on your way to success!
A Research Trip Gone Awry
In the near future, three biologists are on a joint mission to use their state-of-the-art ONYX implants to research the creatures of the uninhabited Sephonie Island. But as they approach the island, a sudden storm leaves them shipwrecked.
Amy Lim, Taiwanese-American and bold leader, hails from the midwestern USA town of Bloomington. Riyou Hayashi, an analytically-minded Japanese-Taiwanese researcher, calls the bustling Tokyo his home. And Ing-wen Lin, a kind and considerate Taiwanese scientist, lives in Taipei.
The trio will find their motivations and loyalties put to the test as they navigate Sephonie’s caverns, facing not only physical challenges but also their deepest memories and dreams. As they grow more intimate with each other and the island, an ancient force, brewing deep in the island's abyss, may threaten their newfound relationship, and the world...
Features
- A deep, emotional story about the close bonds of a trio, the priorities of nations, and the delicate connection of humans and nature.
- A human experience crafted entirely by the IGF Grand Prize-nominated duo of Marina Kittaka and Melos Han-Tani, behind works such as Anodyne 1 & 2, Even the Ocean, and All Our Asias.
- Master a parkour-esque moveset to sprint, wallrun, jump, and fling yourself through Sephonie Island’s rocky and physical caverns!
- A novel and accessible Puzzle Grid system that will stretch your brain in fun ways.
- A screenshot mode that lets you pose the characters and creatures you meet in the game, and then take fun photos!
- A beautiful and varied cave system filled with all manner of large and surprising creatures, visually brought to life by Marina Kittaka.
- A lush, melodic and ambient soundtrack by Melos Han-Tani.
- The postgame “Bubble Adventure” and fiendish hidden items provide a fun challenge for advanced spelunkers.
Buy the soundtrack at Bandcamp: https://htch.bandcamp.com/album/sephonie-original-soundtrack
Join us on Discord to chat about the game: https://discord.com/invite/analgesic
Or, join our newsletter to stay up to date on the game's news: analgesic.productions/
Sephonie does not support square resolutions (Less wide than 16:10). Sephonie will run fine with these resolutions but some UI may be cut off, which you can fix by using the in-game UI Scaling option or by running the game in a 16:9/16:10 windowed resolution. The same goes for UWHD resolutions in fullscreen.
Sephonie only officially supports certain controllers (PS4/5, XB1/XB360). Other controllers may work, but functionality not guaranteed.
In particular the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller is NOT supported although players have gotten it working. Sephonie has been tested to work on Linux with Proton, although there may be some lighting errors depending on your OS so we have chosen to not have an officially supported Linux version.
Status | Released |
Platforms | Windows, macOS |
Release date | Apr 12, 2022 |
Rating | Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars (27 total ratings) |
Authors | Melos Han-Tani, Marina Kittaka |
Genre | Platformer, Adventure, Puzzle |
Made with | Adobe Photoshop, Unity, Blender |
Tags | 3D Platformer, Story Rich |
Average session | About a half-hour |
Languages | German, English, Japanese |
Inputs | Keyboard, Mouse, Xbox controller, Playstation controller |
Accessibility | Color-blind friendly, Configurable controls |
Links | Steam, Steam, Community, Soundtrack, Twitter/X, YouTube, Homepage |
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $19.99 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Development log
- Sephonie Speedrunner Promotion / Console Launch!Jul 13, 2023
- Sephonie now out!Apr 12, 2022
- Coming soon!Mar 11, 2022
Comments
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Absolutely adore this game. I'm playing through it on the switch. My only nitpick is that its a little too easy to initiate screenshot mode when I'm trying to platform and accidentally die, but otherwise a perfect game.
really great game, pretty different 3d platforming controls than anything else I've played, a little finnicky until you get used to them and then its extremely smooth and flowy. Narrative and art and music are amazing as always, lots to think about re: borders, identities, ecosystems, etc.
Will you guys make a Linux version eventually?
Would be nice :)
I wonder if this game was heavily inspired by an amazing unnamed anime... Regardless, this is very interesting! I will surely buy this!
Which anime? I don't watch much anime so it's unlikely, although one loose inspiration was Sarazanmai!
I was talking about Made in Abyss, it just seemed a bit similar.
Game seems to offer a lot more than i had time for in my playthrough, but at least i got through the tutorial and part of the first cave! Finding the lizard and the whale was the biggest highlight for me haha.
Figuring out the controls and making yourself move more streamlined is quite a fun challenge. I appreciate that they tried to do something different when it comes to platforming giving it a very unique feel. I also appreciate that they gave the lead to 3 Asian women; all with their own character and unique look. Looking forward to advance in this game to see what more it has in store. The screenshot editor is also an amazing addition and i really wish more games had this tool.Such a fascinating concept and story! will this by any chance be available on Steam?
it is already available on steam lol
okay, how on earth did I not notice that lmao
yeah man, i was like "is he blind??" "has he ever heard of the search button??" but i didnt wanna be too mean. glad you ended up finding it LOL
(This video serves as a more in-depth review of Sephonie.)
In hindsight, I came in with some crazy high expectations. Anodyne 1 and 2 were games that just really resonated with me, both narratively and stylistically. But man, Analgesic Productions went above and beyond with this one. Sephonie feels like a testament to how much they're willing to improve, innovate and reinvent themselves. And that alone, is incredibly inspiring.
The writing is wonderful and the art is incredible and the clam is huge woah this is a huge clam that's such a huge clam wow
thank you for making this game
thank you! I am glad you like the huge clam too
YES A HUGE CLAM WOW
This seems like such a fun game :) before buying, I wanted to ask if this game is either x86 or x64? Thank you, and huge props for this <3
64 bit I believe!
Ahh gotcha... if it's not a lot of trouble, for future updates would you include also an x86 (32) version too fi it's feasible? :( <3 Would be nice to play the game but if you can't I understand!
Sure! I threw a version up here.
OMG thank you so much!! <3 I just bought the game now, can't wait to give it a try, I appreciate this a lot!
Can't wait!!
WOWW HUGE CLAM LIKE LIKE