The Byzel studio, led by Gustaw Stachaszewski (co-creator of Darkwood), has announced Hoarder. This project for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC starts as a house organization simulator in a hoarder couple's home. However, if the player investigates, they find a staircase to an underground facility. There, the game morphs into a submarine exploration experience with day/night cycles, where collecting strange objects is key to progressing.
A custom engine for a fluid genre transition 🛠️
The Byzel team is developing Hoarder with a custom engine, focused on managing the technical transition between the game's two segments. The shift is not just narrative: the lighting and physics system must adapt from claustrophobic domestic spaces to the aquatic caverns of the facility. The implementation of the day/night cycle directly affects gameplay in the underground section, modifying resource availability and dangers during submarine exploration.
Did your organization therapy turn into a work nightmare? 😱
Hoarder presents a peculiar situation: you're hired for a deep clean, and your response to the mess is to dig so deep that you end up in a secret base piloting a submarine. It's the ultimate professional journey, from organization professional to operator of unidentified underwater facilities. One can almost hear the character thinking: I was just going to clean the basement, and now I have to do night shifts and manage alien inventory. Productivity takes an unexpected turn.