From Secret Sorcery, a studio made up of former DriveClub developers, Tethered is a strategy game coming to PlayStation VR at launch in October 2016.
Developed exclusively for virtual reality, Tethered sees you playing as a Spirit Guardian who must give Peeps commands to help rebuild your islands. However, as the above gameplay trailer shows, you’ll have to defend your islands at night from evil creatures.
Creative Director Alan McDermott explained:
With the break of dawn, you awaken to find your Heavenly Archipelago ransacked by a plague of nocturnal creatures.
As a Spirit Guardian, you must return balance to your islands by seeking out precious Spirit Energy – an ancient life-force that will eradicate this blight for good.
Using daylight as your shield and wielding awesome elemental influence, nurture your flock – The Peeps – and build up their settlement for the night ahead.
And when darkness envelopes your kingdom, ensure their survival against waves of ravenous scavengers hell-bent on consuming all that lies in their path.
Only the first rays of daylight will banish these dark-loving denizens back to the Island’s underbelly – offering new hope and a chance to lick your wounds, rebuild and resume your quest for restoration.
Without your guidance your peeps will surely perish and without them you cannot hope to rid your lands of evil.
Your fates are Tethered.
With an art style influenced by Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki, Alan McDermott adds that Tethered combines the sandbox elements from a strategy game with gentle puzzle mechanics. “With a simple premise at its core – gather and prepare by day, survive by night – our goal is to strike balance between comfort, simplicity, beauty and challenge,” he said.
Based on what Secret Sorcery has seen, a typical play session in Tethered will see you spending around 30 minutes building up your village, gathering Spirit Energy, discovering ancient artefacts, and learning new skills for your Peeps, while also fighting off the enemies at night.
[Source: PlayStation Blog]
