We love to see new and unique video game art, and The Midnight Walk looks set to deliver that in spades… or fettling knives. The game’s animation was crafted using clay, giving it a striking – and spooky – stop-motion claymation look (see our pick of the best 2D animation software).
The Midnight Walk is the first game from MoonHood, a new Swedish developer that “makes games from clay and stuff”. Prior to setting up as MoonHood, the team worked on Lost in Random, Fe and Ghost Giant. The game will be released by Fast Travel Games in spring 2025 for PS5, PS VR2, PC via Steam and SteamVR.
In The Midnight Walk, gamers will play as a character called Burnt One and work with a lantern called Potboy, who has a flame on his head to help light the way through the ‘midnight walk’ of the game’s title. There are five haunting tales, though which the player has to prevent Potboy’s flame from being consumed by monsters.
It looks like there will be a certain amount of humour in the game, which, together with the handcrafted feel, reminds me of the recent gem Harold Halibut (see our Harold Halibut review and piece on the making of Harold Halibut). But despite the unusual approach, the monsters look genuinely terrifying, and the atmosphere of the game looks haunting and immersive.
MoonHood ensures us that “everything you see in The Midnight Walk, from the drooling snarl of monsters to the bristling tree tops that line the journey was first sculpted in clay and then 3D scanned to a meticulous level of detail.” Check out the video below, which shows a glimpse of how they work.
I’m particularly keen to see how The Midnight Walk feels on a VR headset, since we’re told that the eye-tracking will enhance the gaming experience: players will be able to close their “eyes to focus on sounds and manipulate the world around you.”
The Midnight Walk can be wishlisted on Steam.
