Serenity Forge’s upcoming release,Land Of Screens, is a point-and-click adventure that will challenge players to re-examine their relationship with social media. Its central character, Holland, is an editor about to embark on a road trip, but her recent breakup has caused her social media to explode. The game is a light-hearted but impactful exploration of how she is able to survive, and learn to disconnect.
The developer, known forDoki Doki Literature Club Plusas well as a host of other thought-provoking titles, was founded by Zhenghua “Z” Yang. Z recently spoke with Game Rant about the new game and his career as a developer, as well as about the impact he hopesLand Of Screenscan have on its players.
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How Classic Point-and-Click Adventures Inspired Land Of Screens
Z recalls classic LucasArts point-and-click adventureDay Of The Tentaclewhen citing inspirations for Serenity Forge’s latest upcoming game. “It’s a ‘North Star’ for a lot of our design philosophies,” he says. “It has a lot of very strong educational elements; they’re able to teach history and science, and it’s really that old-school nineties PC game design philosophy that you don’t see very often nowadays…" InLand of Screens, players will navigate attempting to unplug from social media via a road trip, meeting all sorts of new friends along the way.
“We wanted to bring that old-school value back. You’re making a video game, it’s going to be played by people who have lives, and we need to be responsible for them taking something away from spending time and money on something that we’re selling them.”
Other influences include titles likeMonkey Island, as well as the games that have helped to shapeLand Of Screens’ unique art style. “We took a lot of inspiration also from the ‘toon’ version ofZelda— Toon Link, theWindwakerart style — with its big, very large expressions, because we wanted these characters to be instantly recognizable and you can connect with them as a player.”
Other distinctive releases have also helped to inform the game’s look and feel. “Some major inspirations would be more modern games likeNight In The Woods, the visual style especially,” explains Z. “Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friendsis also a really good example of something that we care and value a lot in terms of art style.”
Why Land Of Screens Is a Perfect Fit For the Modern Lifestyle
Serenity Forge’s motto is to “create impactful games that challenge the way you think,” and the developer is therefore not content forLand Of Screensto be merely a gorgeous, nostalgicpoint-and-click experience. Z also wants to encourage players to reevaluate their relationship with social media, as it becomes increasingly prevalent in society.
“One of the really interesting things about being a millennial is that, when you were growing up, you didn’t actually have this technology. You can think back to your early teenage years, your first experience with the internet and how that felt. Nowadays, that’s the norm, that’s everyday life.”
This means that new generations are being born into a world where this technology is completely normal, while millennials have to adapt or be left behind.Land Of Screensobserves how we have transitioned “from where technology was cool and exciting, to where technology is necessary for survival," Z explains. “It’s a very interesting dynamic which kind of crept up on us, and we never really made that conscious choice… We went from no phone to flip phone to smartphone, and now we live on the smartphone pretty much throughout the last decade.”
Z also details how one of the game’s scenes highlights the difference betweentoxic online behaviorand real-life interactions. “There is a scene in the game where two forum trolls are brought together in person and actually meet each other,” he explains. “And they realize, ‘I’m Yussef, and it’s nice to meet you, I guess.’ And now they’re just two people, and they’re actually fans of something, and they actually have a lot in common.”
Z hopes this sort of illustration will enable people to think differently about their futuresocial mediainteractions. “We’re so disconnected from humanity through technology, and we just wanted people to play this game and think about it: ‘Maybe next time I send a toxic comment to someone, there’s actually a person that’s just sitting there with their phone and reading it.’”
In a world where online abuse is constantly in the news, this sort of challenging narrative feels very timely. Fans eager to experienceSerenity Forge’s thought-provoking new title will be able to get their hands on it in time for Christmas 2021.
Land Of Screensreleases in December 2021 for the Mac, PC, and Switch.
