80 Days developer Inkle Studios announces new adventure, A Highland Song

A musical romp through the Scottish highlands

The developers behind indie darlings like 80 Days, Heaven’s Vault, and Overboard! just announced a new narrative adventure title called A Highland Song, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. Players will take on the role of Moira, a young Scottish girl who runs away from home to go and visit her uncle on the coast, who has invited her to his home with the promise of a wonderful surprise. The story will follow Moira’s journey through the Scottish highlands, and all of the supernatural surprises she’ll encounter along the way.

Gameplay-wise, A Highland Song is a 2.5D side-scroller with some platforming and rhythm mechanics in there, and it looks delightful to play. Its art style is a combination of hand-drawn animation, painted backdrops, and dynamic weather effects, and will pay homage to the beauty of the country where it is set. The game’s soundtrack will be a prominent feature as well, and was composed by Laurence Chapman, along with two award-winning artists from the Scottish folk scene: Talisk and Fourth Moon.

As well as developing games, Inkle also created an open-source scripting language called Ink, which is used to create interactive narrative games (it’s also what they use to make their own projects, duh). I’ve been using ink for years, and it’s honestly my favorite tool to use as someone who enjoys writing interactive fiction. They’ve made creating your own games super accessible, and that’s something I find really commendable in the games space. Titles like A Highland Song are proof of what their tools are able to create, and should serve as inspiration for any aspiring game devs — if they can do it, you can do it too!

This sweet little indie game is one I’ll be looking forward to. A Highland Song is currently in development for PC and Nintendo Switch, and is available now to wishlist on Steam.