Control an alien world’s day & night cycle in bewitching PS4 puzzle platformer Planet Alpha

Hello Playstation fans, my name is Adrian Lazar, Creative Director on Planet Alpha, an adventure that takes place in a living alien world where you have the ability to control the day and night.

It combines fast platforming, challenging puzzles and stealth moments with an unique artstyle to create an unforgettable experience.

The Beginning

I started developing the game in my spare time four years ago and since then many things have changed: we are now a small, but ambitious team, the game swapped its name a couple of times and even the gameplay went through a few iterations.

But what stayed the same from the beginning was this desire to create an immersive, living world that would awe, scare and intrigue at the same time. An unexplored alien planet is the perfect canvas for this so we let our imagination flow.

In this blog post I would like to tell you about the biodiversity of Planet Alpha.

Day & Night

Moving to Scandinavia, I was fascinated by the long and colorful twilights when the sun lowers below the horizon and the sky is scattered with vivid shades. It’s a huge and often dramatic transformation that as an artist I wanted to replicate in our game.

So we implemented a day and night cycle that we keep evolving even today, which goes way beyond the visuals, affecting every part of the gameplay. What’s more, the player has the ability to change the time of day at will, using the transformation that the planet undergoes to his advantage.

For example, deep in the dense alien jungle light barely reaches the soil so at day some species of mushrooms extend toward the canopy to escape the shade. If you’re observant, you can use them as platforms to reach higher places or as covers to sneak past enemies.

High above the mountains, a different kind of transformation is taking place.

During day, small floating islands are warming up in the sun releasing steam which makes them move through the sky. You can use them to traverse this unstable environment but be worn, some of have sharp edges that can cut deep.

Take a moment to enjoy

On an unexplored alien planet where you don’t know what’s harmful and what’s not, you will be tempted to move forward constantly. But I would encourage you to take a break once in a while and admire the scenery, and who knows, if you like exploring you might be rewarded with more than just a nice view.

However, this is a world in distress, threatened by an unstoppable force. Will you prove to be the foretold saviour or will you fail like many did before?

The diverse world of Planet Alpha is best to be experienced on your own so I’ll stop here.