The climate crisis is unfortunately very real, but it can also be equally disheartening when shown in games, or even potentially inappropriate when used as a gimmicky game feature. The other option is to showcase a more hopeful view of what could happen if humanity manages to come together. We witnessed an example of this earlier this year with an online football simulation.Rematch, and now Rebound is planning to implement a similar approach for its comfortable open-world exploration game, where you reside sustainably in the camper van of your dreams.
My co-founder Mark and I both really like the concept of owning a camper van,” says Tobias Snackernberg, co-founder and studio director at Square Glade Games. “It’s an awesome dream, but in reality it’s not very practical when you have a family, a job, and need to earn money, all those things. So Outbound offers a way to experience it digitally instead.
The studio is located in the Netherlands, although Snackernberg hails from Germany, and one of his initial inspirations originated from a trip back home to visit family. “When you take that drive, it’s very isolated, just passing through a field filled with massive wind turbines positioned alongside the highway on both sides,” he describes. “As I drove through the wind turbines, I found it to be a really striking image. I think the symbolism is quite appealing, and I thought, could we create a game that includes elements like this?”
Art imitates life
Another visual influence came from, of all things, a yogurt advertisement. Not just any yogurt ad, but specifically Chobani’s.’Dear Alice’AD is an animation inspired by Studio Ghibli, featuring music by Joe Hisaishi, who frequently works with Hayao Miyazaki. It was developed by the London-based animation studio The Line and has served as a source of inspiration with its hopeful portrayal of future agriculture. This aligns closely with what Outbound aims to achieve.
We are aiming to depict a world where humans have mastered living in harmony with both nature and technology, creating a relationship that benefits everyone,” states Snackernberg. “This is our vision of what such a future might resemble.
But how accurate is that message in a survival game where you’re often taking advantage of your surroundings for resources, whether it’s for food or to create tools and other materials? Fortunately, it’s not truly a survival game; instead, it’s more of what Snackerberg calls ‘cosy-vival,’ adopting a gentler approach to mechanics like hunger. The team is also conscious of the types of resources you can gather.
One of the initial motivations is to collect trash, which can then be sent to a recycling facility that gives you tickets you can trade for new items. “We want you to make a difference in the world while playing the game,” he says. “When you create an axe, you won’t be able to chop down fully grown trees, only wood from dead trees or those already on the ground. So we aim to integrate these concepts into the gameplay in a gentle manner.”
Crafting customisation
The more significant point is that your campervan can be tailored and enhanced in countless extravagant ways. Although the demo I played is still very early in the game and doesn’t demonstrate much, you’ll essentially move from burning biomass to generate power to being able to add solar panels, wind turbines, greenhouses, and numerous other features on top of your van.
These options vary in terms of efficiency, but you get to decide your approach,” Snackernberg explains. “For example, if you believe solar power is the most effective way to charge your vehicle, you can fully commit to it, but you must have a backup plan for cloudy days or at night. Alternatively, you could rely entirely on wind energy, though you’d need to adjust if the environment lacks sufficient wind. We feel this introduces engaging decisions for the player.
Featuring multiple interconnected biomes, Outbound’s world is not inspired by any real location. Although its stunning portrayal of the outdoors brings to mind Firewatch (both games were also developed in)Unity), this is also not a game that focuses heavily on storytelling. However, there could still be subtle environmental storytelling that helps create an image of this utopian future.
We think that players are best suited to create their own narratives, and that’s also what we often observe in play tests,” Snackernberg concludes. “Some players approach the game as a highly solitary and reflective experience; other players engage with it as if they’re going on a road trip with friends, making it feel more like a weekend getaway.
Outbound is set to arrive on PC soon, and you can add it to your wishlist onSteam now.
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