I’m Hannah Nicklin, Writer and Narrative Designer at Die Gute Fabrik. Earlier this year we were delighted to announce to you via our GDC Teaser Trailer, and to release some exclusive garden gameplay footage. Today, I’m delighted to tell you that the game is now live… and with a launch discount of 10%!
Mutant Soap Opera
In Mutazione you play as Kai as she travels to the strange and secretive community of Mutazione to visit her ailing Grandfather, Nonno. There’s lots you can do each day: explore your way through an in-game week of small-town drama and scenic hangout spots, engage with the magical musical gardening mechanic… But today we wanted to give you a little insight into the wonderful cast of characters!
The ‘ensemble cast’ is part of the heart of the Mutazione experience. You don’t have to find your drama, laughter, tension and resolution all in the same person. Instead, on any given day in Mutazione, you will be able to follow the main plot — unpicking the mystery at the heart of the game — but you can also have or overhear hundreds of other conversations with members of the community, which will add to your understanding of the past and present.
You’ll meet people like Tung, who plays drums in the local band, is unsure of what he wants to do with his life, and is addicted to a telenovela in a language he doesn’t speak.
And Miu, who brings in meat for Mori’s Stir Fry and the weekly BBQs via her nightly hunts, and who is reluctant to speak about her dark past…
Then there’s Graub and Ailin, who are expecting a baby, but have conflicting ideas about exactly how that should be.
And there are moments of levity alongside every piece of drama. For example the Sausages, whose main job is shovelling manure, are always trying to discover the get-rich-quick scheme that will make them all millionaires.
These are just a few of the characters you can talk to and spend time with over your time playing the game.
I like to describe the game as having ‘multiple middles’ rather than multiple endings. We use the in-game journal to tell you which conversations are the key ‘story beats’ (and which will move time forward) giving the player to explore each time of day as much or as little as they would like. You can absorb every conversation possible, follow just the subplots of your favorite characters, or just hit the key story beats.
We also like to talk about the game as a ‘mutant soap opera’ – because one thing that soap operas are so good at is examining how choices made by members of a community long ago can have ripples that last for generations. And instead of having ‘goodies’ and ‘baddies,’ you just have people, where lightness and darkness can exist in equal measure.
Many people have worked over the past few years to bring the community of Mutazione to life. As well as the story, it also has wonderful magical musical gardens to play with, and a beautiful and unique art style. We hope that you come to love the world and the cast of Mutazione as much as we have.
The launch discount will be live for a week after launch, so get in now, and tell your friends!
