Genesis Noir is a surreal voyage through the Big Bang

Genesis Noir explores a mysterious liminal space that somehow feels both small yet expansive. The protagonist, No Man, travels through the history of the universe, and it’s all for the sake of saving the love of his life. It’s the debut from two-person studio Feral Cat Den, and it will be launching a Kickstarter campaign in early 2018 with a goal of $40,000. It’s aiming for a PC and Mac release sometime in 2019.

I played the demo at Double Fine’s annual Day of the Devs indie festival this past weekend. It evokes echoes of Cubist paintings, Donald in Mathmagic Land, and old film noir where objects are in shadow more often than not. Rather than go into too much of the story, the demo presented a few scenarios, such as No Man in his house and in a field where he plants seeds to sprout trees. In each scene, you interact with objects and solve environmental puzzles. In the house, for instance, you have to find the number to dial on a rotary phone.