There are indeed worst places to wake up in than a sunny sided beach, with things far worse than being able to cause an earthquake whenever you please. But little blue Atlas also doesn’t have any idea who he is or where he’s from, which might be a bit of a problem.

https://www.facebook.com/BorderlineGames/videos/540926829637984/

The only means to unravel his kin seems to be the procedurally generated mountain in his path, which he must climb in rogue-like manner to discover its/his many mysteries. At the commencement of every ‘run’ Atlas must start at the very bottom, make a few friends, kill the not-so-friendly ones and hoard up on their loot.

This in turn lets him craft/purchase a few weapons within neighboring villages, which also serve as a sort of only resort should he die before reaching the top of the mountain; players will most definitely lose stolen weapons, but any money collected, or permanently crafted weapons will persist through subsequent playthroughs.

https://www.facebook.com/BorderlineGames/videos/529354687461865/

And so Atlas has poised itself to be fairly light-hearted, colorful and full of voxels, despite the synopsis being nothing groundbreaking per se. The nub however is in its ground-manipulation mechanics, I’m told by Borderline Games, that can be used to build bridges, stairs and even create blockades against foes.

The whole earth-bending theme carries over into its audio and visual effects too it seems; I found someone asking for improved combat feedback on the game’s Discord channel a few weeks back, which made the Borderline team respond as so.

https://www.facebook.com/BorderlineGames/videos/534928296904504/

Speaking of which, combat has been touted to be part classic brawling – part Smash Bros., with Atlas encouraging you to pick your style of play. Overcoming baddies basically comes down to whether you want to deplete their HP with very many attacks or throw them off a cliff/the map.

The lower their HP, the farther they’ll fall, while each weapon has its own characteristics such that some are more efficient at hits while others at shoving.

https://www.facebook.com/BorderlineGames/videos/532119000518767/

All this started out as an Honours Degree project originally titled Yearn somewhere in the month of September 2017.  A game-play demo was made available to its Discord community in the months preceding its trailer launch/rebranding and is now being replaced by a more polished slice.

Development is 30% complete with an early 2019 release planned.