Flat design videogame packs a powerful illustrative punch

Hohokum is a radical video game in its plot and design. With a gloriously flat, cut-out aesthetic, it's a game in which here's no death, no stress, no failure, just an enjoyable sensory experience as you control a colourful serpent creature (described as a 'long-mover', in tribute to the Mighty Boosh) through various interesting environments packed with surreal flora and unlikely fauna.

While of course there are challenges to complete, you're able to tackle them at your own pace - or not if you prefer - and the atmosphere's ramped up by an amazing soundtrack. The game's designer, illustrator Richard Hogg, describes it as being like "listening to an album and you visit different places to listen to the tracks,"

He and developer Ricky Haggett began working on ideas in 2005, visiting London's museums to get inspiration for the game's worlds, and took their prototype game to festivals and competitions, eventually getting signed by Sony in 2012.

Hogg has been working on Hohokum almost full-time for a year and a half; the game will be released in 2014 on PS4 and Playstation Vita.

Words: Angharad Lewis

This article originally appeared in Computer Arts issue 222.

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