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You play as Tim Tom, tinker that evolve in a distopian future with a simple mission : shrink to nanosize and adventure throughts specific items to gather "soul shards" to restore someone's mind inside a fake avatar. Here lies the very nature of a NANOTINKER.
A NANOTINKER's gear is mostly about adapting : specifics tools and his mind, to evolve around an abstract universe that blends known plateformer features and other from puzzle games.
You will have to unriddle environmental puzzles to progress and outsmart traps that populates the objects, all inspired by computer parts that they are made of.
The game is an isometric 3D plateformer with mechanics borrowed from puzzle genre.
The main concept revolve around an isometric camera that pushes you to analyse the whole level and zoom out of what the level have to offer at first. This simple feature drives the whole experience. You will have to use your brain to resolve different types of obstacles, either they are taylored on pure logic or gameplay oriented (grappling hook, wrench, x-ray, dashing, escher-style layout,...) with a grain of humor during the whole scenario.
The gameplay tends to be on a casual and relax side with a specific focus on the onboarding, with a good and accessible skill curve to master everything the game has to offer, whitout the stress of dying or fail as one of the main game feature is to help you focus on playing and the success of your actions.
It is not possible to list all the features the game have but one of the main goals are most features are additional to the others :
ISOMETRIC CAMERA
The camera is the main feature in the game. Clamped on 8 axis, it forces the player to discover and adapt to the environment. From first gaze the level seems maybe impossible or too easy but in the end, you should not trust what you see.
PUZZLES
Each level are composed of litteral puzzles with there own languages, to do in a specific order to be able to progress. They are designed to power up (or down!) other elements in the level to change the progression.
ENERGIE
Each action cost you energy. With a specific pool, that you can reload with specific way. All in all the system is generous but could sometime ask you to focus on it to think about the best investment to do a specific path.
SHRINKING
Shrinking is one of the core abilities as you will be able to find secret path and alternate solutions to a lot of situation.
JUMP
Jumping is the most efficient way to navigate throught the abstract architecture within each objects. Tim Tom is able to legdegrab most of each geometry to help him climb up. The game also integrate a "coyote time" feature to help you never miss a jump!
DASH
Dashing is the way to go when you want to reach something. Helping you navigate horizontally.
GRAPLING HOOK
The grappling hook helps you move vertically in specific way you could not in any other way. It's also usable to interact with specific objects such as drawers.
BOSS LEVEL
Boss levels are designed to push the mecanics at the maximum to experience it in the most graceful way possible.
PLATFORMING
Elevator, flying cubes, fans, vanishing platforms, bumpers, lasers, turrets, ... Every classics elements are here to please you and help you reach the end with you reflex and inteligence.
DEATH / GAME OVER
You litteraly can't lose!
The game always save your latest safe position and each time you try something, it if fails, will let you try again without loading, without handicap, without frustration.
You can then try, retry, test, have fun!
The accessibility is also reinforced as you will be able to progress even in difficult moments.
Rest assured, the challenge is still present!
UI / DIGETISM
The diegetism is a core feature of the game, to help focus on what matters, the navigation and atmosphere. The goal is to help you feel as a scientific "wathcing a lab rat" finding a solution (without hurting any rat in any way of course!). Each UI feedback are given to you within the world.
SPEEDRUN / THINKING OUT OF THE BOX
The gameplay is designed to resolve the puzzle so you can continue your path. The goal is to progress, whatever the solution you found. Skipping puzzle? Good! Finding a solution that answer your own agenda? Good! You should be rewarded by your solution and not because you felt you had to do something.
The game also embrace the speed running scene as, when you master every mechanics and knows the levels you can find specific path to have a very good time!
OPTIMISATION
Game is developped to target a constant 60 fps on a middle range computer and tests are also done to have it compatible with a steamdeck at some point. Stay tuned!
Tim Tom / NANOTINKER
Best recruit in the company, Tim Tom wants to stops his career after 10 very good years.
In order to do so, he shall just finish one last project to, for ever, end death, and is willing to be part of it.
ICU / Employer and savior of people from death itself
Named greatest company for ever in the world of NANOTINKER. Its success comes from a solution to death. It promises an infinite existence. Based on "animism", it's the maker of the project NANOTINKER, their gears and their job.
Soul shard / Quest item
Each objects keep a "percentage" of each soul's. A NANOTINKER's job is to extract these inside specific object so the people mind can be brought back to life.
S3 / Nanotinker’s fellow helper
Mandatory duo to a NANOTINKER, working exclusively in remote. Having a constant eye on his buddy, he can access information a NANOTINKER can't see normally. A true friend for Tim Tom.
V.I.P. / Last project
The bestest and greatest secret in the company. The V.I.P. is the very high end mission from Tim Tom but also the solution to death for eternity.
Threat / Elephant in the room
Something is fishy, and as much as Tim Tom progress, he is not ready for what's coming. It looks like something way bigger than he could imagine is unraveling in front of his eyes and he might be the one who started it...
Video game 100% solo, developped on my own, the game embrace an Abstract Cubic artistic direction. Mostly due to personnal skills limits in 3D, forcing me to work with what the player see and what the player don't. The "nano sizing" aspect and "quantum world" helps me get ouf of realist graphism and details, focusing on really only what matters : the gameplay.
Each elements are taylored to be clear and easy to identify, giving the player an easy to understand gameplay and goal. Each level have specificities, such as different color scheme, ambient, music and exotic gameplay mechanics.
The duality and the "clair-obscur" are in the very core of the art and help player focus on contrast and window-dressing.
Thank you very much for your interest and i truly hope the game will answer what you expect from it!!!
