Flying Carpets Games is a recently formed indie studio made up of six members, some of whom used to be employed at Gameloft and EA but left those developers behind ”
in order to make games with more creative freedom,” a sentiment I truly respect. As they’ve just made us aware, the first carpet which will be flying out of their studio goes by the simple name The Girl and the Robot, and they’re saying it echoes some of that mysterious, adventurous tone of gaming classics like ICO and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time while simultaneously drawing in the wonder of old fairy tales and works like those of Studio Ghibli.

Though it’s very early, pre-alpha footage, I can tell you that the trailer they’ve produced certainly made me think of
ICO, particularly the apparent focus on the relationship between the girl and robot in question. Flying Carpets says “the concept of friendship” is a central them of their game, and they plan on having it represented in “both the story and gameplay.”

Flying Carpet Games is looking for fan support to help achieve their vision, so The Girl and the Robot is scheduled to begin its time on Kickstarter next Tuesday, October 29th, at 10:00am (eastern time).

The concept of
The Girl and the Robot‘s story is simple, but not in a reductive way. It’s simple in the way that a Pixar or, fittingly, a Studio Ghibli story is, elegantly:

“You take on the role of a young girl trying to escape from a castle ruled by an evil queen. On her way, she meets a mysterious robot that can be controlled remotely and together they encounter many challenges.”

Gameplay-wise, The Girl and the Robot revolves around the player switching between control of both characters to do the things you’d expect to do in a game that echoes ICO and Ocarina of Time: figure out puzzles, fight off your enemies, and traverse the world. The studio promises that The Girl and the Robot‘s world will also be home to a “Mysterious backstory that has left its mark on the environment,” and the aesthetic with which that world has been created is a “hand-painted art style reminiscent of old fairy tales.”

Here’s
The Girl and the Robot‘s latest trailer. As the video states though, this is pre-alpha footage, and the game will certainly be getting better from here on out:

Lastly, here’s a bunch of screenshots for you all to check out. I’m an absolute sucker for these sorts of simply, touching stories, and games like
ICO and Zelda are generally my favorite kind, so I’m definitely interested in this one. What do you think of The Girl and the Robot? Does it have you intrigued like it does me?

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Our Verdict

Barry Herbers
I write editorials here at Gamnesia and occasionally some news (though far less often than I used to). Here's some of my work, long-form game essays, if you have any interest in that sort of stuff: The Amount of Content in a Game Has Nothing to do with its Price A Game's Atmosphere is Defined by its Mechanics, Not its Aesthetic The Witcher 3's Introduction is Terribly Paced and Too Restrictive of its Players I'm looking forward to The Last Guardian (had it pre-ordered since 2010), Rime, Night in the Woods, and Vane. If I had a niche, it would probably be the somewhat higher fidelity indie games, as take up most of the spots on that list. I'm also developing a no-budget video game with a friend, and you can follow me on Twitter (@TheVioletBarry) to hear about that and anything else I feel like saying. Film, games, it's that sort of stuff.

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