It’s been almost 10 years since ARTE entered the video game world with Type: Rider. Since then, their number of games published per year has continued to increase, without ever losing quality. Just look at the number of nominations and awards won by their games. It’s incredible ! And with Inua: A story in Ice and Time, launching this year, the story continues.
Inua had already been nominated in the “Most innovative” category at Games for Change and in the “Best independent game” category at the Gamescom Awards in addition to having won the “Best audio” award at the Big Festival. Now it is also conquering the mobile world with the “Cultural Impact Award” by Apple as part of the App Store Awards 2022 and the “Best Story” award in Europe awarded as part of the “Google Play Best of 2022” . So let’s dive into the cold of Inua to try to understand its success.
Inua, an immersive adventure full of emotion
Inua: A story in Ice and Time is a point and click narrative adventure. Nothing so original there, you might say. And you would be right, because the originality of Inua does not come from its genre, but from its narration. The story of the game is based on a real mystery of the 19ᵉ century, namely the disappearance of two British ships on a mission in the Canadian Far North. We follow three characters in three different temporalities who will make us discover Inuit facts and legends about this mystery that has lasted more than 100 years! A mixture of journalistic documentary and a dive into Inuit folklore that works and makes you dream!
Inua, fabulous art direction as usual
The originality of the narration is not the only strong point of Inua. His art direction is just wonderful. We really feel in the skin of the characters, which can only serve the immersion in the universe of the game. Speaking of immersion, the soundtrack composed by Tanya Tagaq, an Inuit singer, is sublime. I would even say that it is worth playing just for that…
ARTE, a demanding editorial line focusing on originality
We were talking to you not so long ago about How to Say Goodbye, a puzzle game dealing with mourning and also published by ARTE. By analyzing the list of their games, we can see a common characteristic despite their variety: the target audience. ARTE chooses games that will appeal to a mature audience, an audience tired of repetition and the immutable genres of the video game industry. They know that today’s 30s and 40s are part of the first generation that played video games. And, they bet that this audience is looking for new innovative, original and, I would even say, artistic experiences. Given the success of their titles, it’s a successful bet! So, if you want to live a moving and unique story, which also cultivates you, play Inua: A story in Ice and Time!
elooms