Image credit:Redlock Studio

Captivating cosmic megastructure adventure game Hypnos leaves early access next week, offering up a world I'm desperate to dig into further

Do I know what's going on in it yet? Well...

· Rock Paper Shotgun

I just love me a megastructure, I do. I'm not entirely sure why, to be honest. My best guess is that growing up in a major city with concrete pillars looming over me higher into the sky than I care to take notice of, perhaps even threatening me, left me with a sense of awe towards that which exists at a scale I can't really comprehend. With that, I was quite quickly hooked on whatever Hypnos was putting down, even if when I first had a go at it I couldn't quite tell you what was going on. And now, after a stint in early access, the eldritch "megastructure fever dream," is launching into 1.0 in just a week's time!

To be specific, that's October 29th, just a couple of days shy of good ole Hallow's Eve, which given the unearthly vibes of Hypnos definitely feels somewhat appropriate. For those not yet ingratiated into the sights and wonders of Hypnos, it is a first-person adventure and exploration game; more than the humble walking simulator, though perhaps not as involved as puzzle games with similar vibes. You won't just be walking, but chatting to folks, all manner of strange inhabitants, often speaking in cryptic ways.

The character you play as is an equally sickly-looking and handsome hot boy named Chrono, who wants to find "the faceless boy," i.e. Matthew. As Chrono, you are tasked with solving "city's mysteries, face the Monarchs who rule the far reaches of the world and cross the veils that separate ignorance from truth." A tall order! But a vibey one, and those chats you'll be having are certainly visual novel like in that there are multiple dialogue choices you can make that can lead to different endings.

I haven't had time to dig into Hypnos as much as I would have liked since it arrived in early access, but now that it is launching into 1.0, I suppose I don't really have all that much of a choice! And if you're curious about it yourself, you can just pick it up right now in early access (the price is staying the same), or have a go at the demo on Steam if you need some extra convincing.