Hello there, present and future players! We know it's been a while, but we have news and updates. As you may know, Sea of Leaves is a self-funded game project, which started as a small experiment on narrative 4 years ago. During all this time, something changed except one thing:

Sea of Leaves is still self-funded and independent.

In the last few months we reached some publishers, but it didn't work out. We don't know why, but we know that Sea of Leaves is unique and we want to talk only to those who can understand it - those who wishlisted the game and those who are about to do that.

Sea of Leaves is a narrative game with an interactive fiction heart.

We use Ink to develop its branching structure, and we modified it to our needs. First thing first, the narrative point of view is the stream of consciousness of an unknown character. [The Stream of consciousness is a literary method/genre/technique used to mimick brain non-linear thinking.] In game the stream of consciousness focus its storytelling on memories, sensations, feelings and impressions, just as a human consciousness. So now imagine for a moment that this inner voice is going to "tell" the story of the game. This story revolves around the disappearance of a young girl from a small village, a remote region in the southern Italy. Have you ever been in Italy? Every region has its own stories, traditional tales, local folklore. Can you imagine an unconventional story told with an unconventional narrative method, with a poetic - surely unconventional - literary style? [previewyoutube=gvNzXH9d9aM;full][/previewyoutube] At its very heart Sea of Leaves is a point-and-click game: as the game starts you have an environment with hidden stimuli. The consciousness can trigger these stimuli, and the environment on its end can expand the consciousness branches. All in all this is a classic gameplay, which hides a special side: the story is implicit and symbolic, and its meaning depends on the player's interpretation. Story - I'm using it in the singular, but it's wrong. Best term would be stories. Sea of Leaves features lots of stories: behind the disappearance there's a whole community, people and places with their own stories. On the background there's an important non-playable character: Mother Nature with its relentless life and death loop. We're researching all these aspect, from traditional folklore to plant and animals. Why?

Because in game we don't talk about the setting, it's the setting that speaks for itself.

Maybe we failed to communicate all of this to publishers, but we hope to manage with potential players. There's one thing left. Sounds and music play a significant role in Sea of Leaves: they can help the player to focus, give meaning, memorize, improve and complete his/her experience. We are going to start a collaboration with a sound design studio in order to experiment an artistic approach which is going to add a new narrative layer to Sea of Leaves. We could buy music and sounds from the hundreds libraries out there, but we want something unique, for us and for the players. We're doing this for the sake of the project, because we know that the result will be amazing. But - there's always a but - this is not for free, and we decided to invest our own money to keep going.

Some said: do a crowdfunding to let people help you.

And after thinking a bit we decided to give it a try! Our very best reward for our backers will be a demo with their name in the credits. and the possibility to give feedbacks and talk with us. There's still 10 days left to have an impact on a truly independent game. Please donate here: https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/8NvTmyZg0r Thank you! Simona and Firtina

[ 2022-10-13 10:05:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello friends! some months ago, we were asked to attend the Ce l'ho Corto Film Festival, the online short movies exhibition from Bologna, and we said YES! Well, to be honest our answer was "Oh that's awesome! This is our first time to a Film Festival, can't wait to do that!" The Festival was supposed to take place in the beautiful Bologna, with a live exhibition of the game, but due to Covid, the event moved online. That's why we decided to make the demo available throughout the whole event (and even more). [By the way, have you noticed we changed the game's name? Steam was plenty of too many leaves, apparently] And it's not over. On November 26th we will speak during a Facebook live stream, on the link between Movies, Art and Videogames (italian language only!). Follow this link to attend the live stream: https://www.facebook.com/events/405747590558491 Oh and please, wishlist Sea of Leaves if you havent done it yet

[ 2020-11-25 15:13:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

Here we go with another Steam Event, in our favourite season: Autumn! Get ready for a tale on Leaves directly from the devs. We are also going to talk about the changes and improvement in this new demo and what to expect in the future!

[ 2020-10-06 07:24:47 CET ] [ Original post ]

Leaves is an episodic contemplative game with a branching story about a missing girl. The first episode, Branch 1, will be released around Fall 2020, both for standard and steam VR. In this game, the story is told through emotions, feelings and memories: the narrative mechanics is based on a branching, node based stream of consciousness. The player is required to reflect, observe the environment and explore the main character's mind to unveil the reasons why she decided to left her small town in the southern italy and, moreover, why she decided to comeback. Leaves narrative system is meant to relax and immerse the player in a complex story that blends drama and mystery on an alienating but fascinating provincial background, in the southern Italy. Leaves will be available also in VR.

[ 2020-06-18 11:36:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello! we hope you're enjoying the Leaves Demo! On Friday Jun 19 we'll play the demo live on Steam! As we catch leaves and contemplate the environment, we will share some important insights on the game, the team and, you'll be able to make questions in chat on Discord. The stream will be in English! So, don't forget: Friday, Jun 19, 9:00 PM CEST See you here Simona and Firtina The Sea and the Forest

[ 2020-06-18 11:25:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello! Here's a surprise for you all: we will be part of the Steam Game Festival, and you will have the opportunity to try the new Demo of Leaves for a limited time! This is a very special demo, so don't miss it! Plus, we'll be available live throughout the Leaves demo stream! We will tell you everything on the upcoming Leaves - Branch 1 and answer any of your questions on the game! Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/s6j4cDM

[ 2020-06-06 17:08:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dear players, The Steam Game Festival has been postponed until June 16. We totally respect Valve's decision, and given the recent ongoing social movement against racism we decided to delay the Leaves demo. We are physically miles away from USA, but we are witnessing what's happening. Inequality, racism and brutality are everywhere in the world, and we must take a stand to reject them. Yes, we want a just society, and we strongly encourage you to take a stand, if you want the same opportunities and rights, for everybody. Leaves demo will be available on June 16, so please stay around. Take care The Sea and the Forest Simona and Firtina

[ 2020-06-06 09:31:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello! Here's a surprise for you all: we will be part of the Steam Game Festival, and you will have the opportunity to try the new Demo of Leaves for a limited time! This is a very special demo, so don't miss it! Plus, we'll be available live throughout the Leaves demo stream! We will tell you everything on the upcoming Leaves - Branch 1 and answer any of your questions on the game! Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/s6j4cDM

[ 2020-06-05 11:35:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello there, it's been a while, but we're here with fantastic news! Leaves will be part of the Steam Summer Festival which will take place from 9 to 14 June. During this dates you can download and play Leaves Demo! This demo is deeply different from the one showcased previously. It contains a lot of updates and contents, and we're absolutely thrilled to let you play it. We're also preparing some special events for you to attend during the Steam Game Festival, so stay with us on our Discord server : https://discord.gg/s6j4cDM More news coming soon in a couple of days, promise. Simona

[ 2020-05-30 15:15:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

Today it's an important day: two years ago I had the first playable prototype of Leaves. It changed a lot, and even someone could tell two years is too much for a pre-alpha version I'd like to celebrate this milestone by telling you something about us - the developers.

WHO ARE WE?

I am Simona Maiorano, and I started develop Leaves on my own, 2 years ago, in order to experiment atemporal narrative. Then, I keep on working on it because the chance to experiment with autobiographical and branching story was promising to me. Some months ago Firtina came aboard: he's working on depth of field and shaders, which needs a special treatment for the VR version. As an author and game creator, I don't see game development as a race or a competition. We are actually creating something and we are taking our own time to learn, to ask for opinions, experiment, get inspired by books, other games, movies, our own experience and occasionally make mistakes. So this is it! Stay with us, it will be worth it. :) Simona

[ 2020-01-14 21:06:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all, as you can tell, Leaves is around the corner! As it approaches I'd like to share some updates. First of all, I'm no more alone in developing the game and important changes have been made, also with the help of Firtina Ozbalikci as programmer. We have 4 scheduled versions before publishing the first episode, which will happen before summer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQaDaKqtzJY At the moment I'm working very hard on the story and the narrative system, while Firtina is improving depth of field and the sand shader. Leaves is a contemplative story-rich game, and obviously we are dedicating ourselves to provide a nice and satisfying experience In the next posts, I'll talk more about the narrative background, settings and about contemplation as game mechanic (and dynamic)
In the meantime, you can add Leaves to your wishlist, ask your friends to do the same and Follow to get notified on future updates. Should you have questions or something to tell, just write :) See you soon! Simona

[ 2020-01-11 15:44:09 CET ] [ Original post ]