As one person projects go, Michel Ziegler’s Mundaun is pretty ambitious. Having released in March 2021 for PC via Steam, the game is relaunching with Annapurna Interactive as publisher, and coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
Hidden Fields is the developer, but Michel Ziegler is the one-man studio, and is a massive labour of love, having taken six years to hand draw every element of the game, from the characters to the textures you see when exploring the environment. Ziegler says that “Mundaun takes a unique approach to horror by immersing players into a world set in the beautiful and serene region of the Swiss Alps, but offering a darker version inspired by mythical folklore where reality and myth intertwine. In the beautiful worlds, players are on a journey to explore various areas that are full of secrets to discover, mysteries to solve through a variety of hand-crafted puzzles and more”.
Here’s the synopsis of the game, as well as a trailer to whet your whistle for the relaunch.
After learning of his grandfathers mysterious death in a fire, the protagonist travels to Mundaun for the first time since childhood. He will soon discover that something old and diabolical is haunting the remaining inhabitants. The quest to find out the meaning behind these sinister events takes the player on an odyssey up Mundaun mountain: From steep meadows across stony fields and to the snow-covered peak.
Mundaun is a lovingly hand-pencilled horror tale set in a dark, secluded valley of the alps. Explore various areas full of secrets to discover, survive hostile encounters, drive vehicles, fill your inventory and solve a variety of hand-crafted puzzles.
The relaunch of the game will allow it to feature “next-gen” graphical improvements, and patch updates that “provide clearer presentations of the game’s unique hand-penciled style at a higher frame rate”.
Mundaun is out today for Nintendo Switch.