Revealed two years ago during E3 2018, Sable is coming-of-age exploration adventure game set in a desert of an alien planet. Titled, “A Glimpse of Sable,” the short gameplay teaser gave us a peek at the huge world players will find themselves in, along with some of the tools that will be at their disposal for adventuring. Players will control Sable as they explore the desert at their own pace to uncover more about the planet’s history and learn more about Sable’s place in the world. As players explore the vast desert planet, they will encounter numerous ruins, crashed starships, and other nomads on their own paths. Similar in spirit to Journey, Sable is a “beautiful exploration experience” that will allow players to choose where to go and explore the world how they wish. Players will also have access to Sable’s hoverbike for travel throughout the world and can unlock upgrades or customization items for their bikes.
The short gameplay trailer also showed off the colorful and unique art style of Sable, utilizing a number of different shaded textures and colors to add depth to the desert planet’s environment. The trailer included action shots of Sable using a new flotation ability, climbing ruins, and biking across desert plains. Sable’s flotation ability will allow players the ability to climb large structures and glide across the world, similar to the gliding seen in Breathe of the Wild. According to official descriptions for the game, Sable is a game with a heavy emphasis on the player’s freedom of choice throughout the world. “Solve puzzles or don’t! It’s up to you what you want to do!” is just one of the many encouraging statements by developers for players exploring the game. Those playing will also encounter various nomads, puzzles, and story elements that they can choose to interact with or not.
Despite its delay from 2019 to 2020, Shedworks has not revealed any more information about future release date, outside of the 2021 release window that was reassigned in the most studio’s recent Tweet. With the release of a new trailer, however, an official release date is hopefully on the horizon. Sable is available for pre-order right now on the Steam store and Xbox Store.