Koira is the debut project of Studio Tolima, a small team working with publishersDONTNODto create a whimsical adventure game featuring a lonely wanderer and the puppy they befriend.
A quirk of Koira is the game contains no text or dialogue at all, something that Studio Tolima decided to do early in the development process. Another aspect of Koira that stands out is the aesthetic, a sort of hand-drawn melancholic winter wonderland.
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In an interview withGame Rant, game director and studio head Ben Lega talks about the origins of the game’s unique art style.
A Traveller And Their Puppy
“The art style was the first thing I established,” Lega began. “In today’s busy video game market, a game with unique visuals has more chances to stand out. To make an image that would attract attention, I wanted it to have a lot of contrast and pop.”
“At the time, I was working by myself on the project, which meant I had to find a great aesthetic that wouldn’t be too costly to make,” he explained. “I love 2D hand-drawn animations, but I knew that these can very costly to do, especially for detailed characters. So, at the time, I was exploring animation with characters designed in a single flat shaded colour and no outline.”
“I start by drawing a flat black character on an empty white background. It was a bit out of place, so I erased the base of his feet. And suddenly it felt like he was part of this world! Lost in the big snowy plane that had become my sheet of paper, only punctuated by a few dead trees and patches of grass that I quickly added. It looked nice, but it felt cold being lonely in the wintry world. So, I added a cute small puppy to cheer him up, and a stick to play fetch.”
Thus, the core duo of Koira was born. The minimalist art style of the traveller and puppy does draw attention, as games stylised in this fashion tend to be emotional rollercoasters. Lega cites Thatgamecompany’s Journey and Disney’s Fantasia as inspirations for Koira. From what we’ve seen of the game so far, both are fitting.
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