Occlude’s main themes are the occult (the unknown and the supernatural) and mysticism. Because of these unique and interesting concepts, the game intentionally diverts from its standard rule-set in this narrative card game. Each coming with its own Entity, Occlude presents seven different Rituals and each asks for a different type of logic.
“We wanted the rules of the game itself to be part of the discovery,” explains Tributary Games’ Studio Lead Samuel Partridge, “Occlude takes what you think you know about Solitaire, and then blows things wide open from there. The puzzles and the narrative go hand-in-hand, so as you learn one you also learn the other. We’re incredibly proud of where this journey leads – the last Ritual in particular – and can’t wait to see how players grapple with it.”
As you can see from Tributary Games’ Studio Lead, Samuel Partridge, the studio wanted players to stumble across the rules of the game by themselves without being guided, intertwining regular solitaire with a fun narrative mixed with challenging puzzles.
Because of this “work it out yourself” approach, Tributary Games accepted any and all feedback from Steam Next Fest and added a Story Mode to Occlude as a result. Therefore, those who are more into a Lynchian narrative as opposed to puzzles that stretch and twist your brain, can jump straight into an immediately accessible version of the game.
Occlude is bursting at the seams with secrets and a mind-bending narrative that, in itself, is a puzzle. The game summons players to connect the dots of the story themselves from vague, scattered hints and archival documents. Running alongside Occlude’s development is a free ARG: Seven Cards, Seven Rituals, an investigative ARG that permits players to discover more of the world of Occlude in an alternate reality universe that is crammed with lore.
Occlude is now available on Steam and Itch.io after a successful demo at Steam Next Fest.