Penguin Colony caught my eye for A) being the next game by the makers of Umarangi Generation, and B) penguins – lots and lots of penguins. After booting up the demo and being greeted with a title sequence directly ripped from The Thing, I knew I was in for something very strange. I still don’t completely understand what I experienced, but there’s enough intrigue in this slice to inspire a deeper look.
This bizarre adventure unfolds in Antarctica circa 1939. You control, you guessed it, a penguin. Several, in fact, as you can hop between many of them at will, from imposing Emperor Penguins to small chicks. You can do penguin things like waddle, but it’s faster and more fun to belly slide down and (somehow) up hills, dive and swim underwater, or hop. Some penguins are best suited for bypassing certain obstacles, such as taking control of a chick to squeeze through tiny openings. You also have to manage a stamina meter, the amount of which is determined by the size and species of your chosen flightless ice bird.
Your initial goal is to follow the distant light of a flare shot by one of the many human expeditioners. One of these visitors cryptically narrates his unsettling experience on the continent as you collect glowing orbs revealing words such as “Colonist” and “Sex”. Without spoiling too much, reaching their base camp reveals something very, very wrong is at play, both regarding the type of people who are visiting (the time period is a hint) and the discovery they’ve made. March of the Penguins, this is not, but if you want something captivating and weird, absolutely give Penguin Colony a shot. – Marcus Stewart