Witch Beam, the Brisbane-based dev team behind BAFTA-winning indie hit Unpacking, has revealed that its next project — a musical puzzler by the name of Tempopo — is coming to Switch sometime in 2024.
With Cult Games on publishing duties, the initial trailer debuted in the recent PC Gaming Show, but you can check out the “Director’s Cut” of it above. We recommend watching the whole thing, as the gameplay clips at the end do a better job of explaining the chill vibes and puzzle gameplay than the tone-setting opening.
Essentially, the titular Tempopo is a radish-y, onion-like plant creature that bounces to the beat, just like everything else in these little diorama garden stages. Musical flowers in need of rescue have apparently been scattered across the sky, although only the Tempopo — protagonist Hana’s “magical garden sprites” are up to the task, and you’ll need to use them to solve environmental puzzles and work your way to each garden’s exit.
BAFTA award-winning Audio Director and Composer, Jeff van Dyck (who worked on Unpacking and Alien: Isolation) is handling the music here, with Angela van Dyck and Eneteti Turnbull on vocals.
We’ll leave it to the PR to elaborate on the setup a little more:
Mischievous and uncoordinated by nature, Tempopo will rely on your instructions to work together and solve each island’s puzzle. Use your wits or trial and error to find the perfect configuration, solving puzzles with inventive solutions involving multiple Tempopo performing different roles.
– Guide Tempopo through 60 levels, manoeuvring, smashing, blocking, lifting and pushing your way through spatial puzzles across four seasons
– Experience a bright and joyful world that’s permeated with music, where every living element moves in harmony with the musical heartbeat
-Build your own melodic garden with the flowers you rescue throughout the game and enjoy a unique musical performance
In addition to Switch, Tempopo will launch on Steam, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
We have to say, those little Captain Toad-style levels do look lovely, and the more we watched the trailer, the more the beat started to take us over. Unpacking was a fine game (although one which induced mild panic in this particular writer having moved house twice in six months in real life), so we’re eager to see — and hear — more of this one.
Let us know below if this is (or isn’t quite) your Tempopo.
