Trackless hasn’t wasted any time on Fig. Only a day after launch, the game already raised half of its $20,000 goal with 27 days left. We wrote about Trackless a few weeks ago without much of an idea of what the game would be, other than a walking simulator. Now that the campaign is live, we of course have more details.
The campaign page reads: “Trackless is an atmospheric first-person exploration and puzzle game set in the distant future.” It’s inspired by games like Shadowgate and King’s Quest, but also text based adventure game Zork. As you may guess, this means that Trackless features a text parser that requires you to input text to interact with the world. It’s with this feature that separates the game from most other walking simulators.
More than more walking
The page promises that this isn’t just a walking simulator. Interacting with the world, objects, and other characters is important. You won’t be able to passively walk around aimlessly. There will be puzzles to solve as well, bringing into question just how much of a walking simulator this game really is.
The story isn’t well detailed, but there’s enough there to get an idea. You play as a Seeker who travels into the mountains seeking The Object. It’s not known what The Object is, but there are a series of trials one must pass before they obtain it, so it must be good. It seems like mystery will play a big part in the game, both its plot and gameplay.
Trackless sounds interesting, sure, but a lot of games do. For a game that’s found such rapid success though, it’s surprising to see so few details, and even fewer screenshots and video footage. It’s nice to see a game blending multiple genres, and a bit of mystery in a game is always a good thing. But this level of mystery in a crowdfunding campaign is questionable and more frustrating than intriguing.
