Toronto, Ontario, March 27, 2024 - orangutan matter invites you to lose yourself in the world of fine art and contemplate new perspectives in their newest title: Unleaving. The mind bending debut from indie studio orangutan matter launches on Steam today!

Unleaving borrows its title from Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem: 'Spring and Fall: To a Young Child.' (You can check it out here.) The game brings the poem to life by transforming its words into a playable experience. It blends physics-based challenges with a metaphorical narrative, inviting players to explore life's deeper questions through the eyes of a child.

The integration of the puzzles serves the narrative, aiming to make the gameplay feel natural and engaging, rather than mechanical. Players can approach it as a series of puzzles, or they can solve puzzles while transcending to the deeper realm of introspection through art, and metaphor. The puzzles are embedded within each chapter's theme, much like a piece of art. This approach provides an opportunity for self-reflection, as the protagonist acts as an extension of the players themselves. No two players can have the same experience, not even the developers; it’s personal, like a fingerprint.

Pablo Picasso once said: “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once they grow up,”. “With Unleaving, players can treat their experience as their own personal journey. Like children expressing themselves freely, players are encouraged not only to solve puzzles, but to look further into the questions that each challenge poses and interpret the experience in their own unique way. We want to inspire introspection and curiosity, inviting players to embrace the boundless freedom of expression reminiscent of childhood, exploring wider perspectives, inhabited from judgment—a childlike spirit transcending status, age, beliefs.” - Sura Karnawi, orangutan matter studio co-lead.

The art of the game combines different traditional styles and mediums, mainly blending impressionist hand paintings inspired by classic masters such as Van Gogh & J. M. W. Turner, with pencil illustration that is constantly shifting and “breathing” giving the impression of “living art” in the game world . The distinct visual style was brought to life with painting-animation techniques involving altering acrylic painting on canvas paper while capturing frames during the painting process. This results in many backgrounds in the game coming alive, breathing subtle changes as the player continues through the story.

This multimedia art world blurs the line between reality and imagination, with brushstrokes and textures that draw players into a contemplative exploration of the game's themes. The use of real-life art to create landscapes further grounds players in the world.

Unleaving is as much a video game as it is an extended series of multimedia paintings and drawings.

*Every frame is a hand-painting, seamlessly integrating pencil and graphite puzzle elements.
*The visuals come to life through traditional painting animation.
*Embracing a commitment to originality, each scene is new, with no repetition.
*Each chapter is based on a specific theme that guides the mood, emotion, and story and, by extension, influences the colors and style.