Genesis Noir is “poetic adventure game set before, during, and after The Big Bang. To save your love, you must stop the expansion of the universe”. After numerous positive reviews, awards, and nominations, including Best Debut at this year’s BAFTA Games Awards, the developers at Feral Cat Den have expanded their cosmic adventure. The independent New York-based studio created the game and published it with Fellow Traveller last March. A few days shy of its one year anniversary, Genesis Noir’s new update is available now for PC, Mac, Switch and Xbox.
If you have not heard of or played Genesis Noir, the game sees you play as, “No Man, a watch peddler caught in a love triangle with other cosmic beings”. As part of Feral Cat Den’s mission to, “fuse animation + interactivity and create visually rich and tactile games”, they began developing their ideas in 2014. With inspiration ranging from writers (Italo Calvino), games (Amanita Design), and musicians (Sun Ra), it is not surprising to see how they ended up with an experience like Genesis Noir.
These images, of course, do not do the game justice. This is especially the case considering the lack of audio. Skillbard, with credits at Cartoon Network, MTV, and more, created the music and sound design for Genesis Noir. The London based team said that Feral Cat Den, “afforded us the space and freedom to let rip”, which allowed the game to have, “a sense of mysterious atmosphere”, according to Xbox News.
The game’s developers took to Twitter to announce The Astronomy Update. A design lifespan that lasted 8, now 9, years undoubtedly had several untapped ideas. The team’s tweet expressed as much when detailing the update.
We had so many ideas for how to explore the Big Bang but didn’t get the chance to make them all before release.
We kept tinkering with these concepts, however, and today we’re excited to update the game with 3 small levels to create a directors/astronomers cut.
Per Nintendo Everything, the update allows players to, “Jump back into the jazzy cosmic universe where you can reveal the constellations of Golden Boy, No Man and Miss Mass, visit the historical site of Stonehenge and also jump into the future.” If you would like a peak before you play, watch Genesis Noir: The Astronomy Update’s trailer below.