Calluna

Calluna is only the third game I’ve accepted through Steam Curator Connect. The reason? It looked different to the usual games I see or play, and it had a rather unique/niche theme. It looked like a simple and pleasant way to learn about things I likely wouldn’t have learnt about via any other medium. I can’t imagine I would have watched a documentary or read a book or even a Wikipedia page about the life and experiences of Norwegian composer and violinist, Ole Bull. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2655827763 As a game, Calluna is short and simple, having taken me around 2.5 hours to finish, although I did accidentally skip some tasks in the first chapter. I feel I made up for that skipped time while searching for some milk later in the game though. You begin as young Ole Bull, running simple errands while learning about the area and time he grew up in. You spend the rest of the game exploring and ticking off various tasks throughout various key points in Bull’s life, learning more about Ole Bull, alongside different historical and cultural aspects. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2655827059 The graphical style is rather unique and …

I live in Norway and have visited the beautiful old town of Bergen, so I was extra happy to check out this game. The first part of Calluna is an interesting glimpse of 19th century Norway. It feels closer to a well done interactive museum experience than to a regular adventure game, with info beacons providing historical insights and everything. There's some rather light gameplay, but it seems to be mostly about getting immersed in the atmosphere. The views are pretty and the atmosphere does feel impressively authentic, with attention to details making the streets come alive. You can find a map with a fast travel function, but I actually preferred walking because I enjoyed the scenery. The music enhances the historical experience nicely, though I would have expected more violin... I haven't had time to finish the game, going to update my review later. So far it's a recommendation if you're into this kind of "edutainment" experience or just want to get immersed in historical settings. UPDATE: From chapter 2 on, I thought the quests were getting a bit ridiculous and tedious. Also, there are fantasy elements, so we're leaving the purely historical. ALSO, [b]there's no save func…

Calluna might just be a bit of a hidden gem. Too many times I've seen a small indie dev team execute a really interesting concept poorly but this is not the case with Calluna. I was surprised at how smoothly this first-person, semi-open world, historical adventure game runs. The environments are really pretty and the missions you're on in the 4 different stories do not feel repetitive. You will adventure in the streets of Bergen, Paris, and Cairo as Ole Bull but from very different perspectives - an ambitious child, a whimsical pre-teen, a stubborn, sickly and broke young adult, and an accomplished musician in his 60s. They all bring out a different dimension of Ole Bull and teach you about his life without actually feeling like an educational game. It just feels like an adventure game. It's a short game and I truly believe that it's worth your time and attention! Indie devs deserve our support, especially when they create such charming adventures for us :) The game isn't perfect. It would really benefit from an auto-save feature, or any kind of saving feature for that matter. It is a game you can finish in 3 hours and that's counting all 4 episodes. You can play the different e…