Out of Words – Craft the most unusual love story in gaming out of clay and glue | games

SThe top action adventure Out of Words was one of the highlights revealed at this year’s Summer Game Fest. While most games are built on code, Out of Words is made of clay, cloth and glue: a literal, handcrafted love story that caught the attention of Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima (“The highest praise we could imagine,” says game director Johan Oettinger).

Oettinger has been dreaming of making a stop-motion video game since he was 12, when he first played the 1990s point-and-click claymation game The Neverhood. After years of working in film, commercials and installation art, Out of Words is the project that merges these two lifelong passions.

The process of bringing clay to life is as unusual as the game itself. The 40-person studio in Aarhus, Denmark, has developed a suite of custom scanners and photogrammetry to bring hand-crafted assets into Unreal Engine, coupled with stop-motion scenes that see animators move the puppets at 12 to 24 frames per second. “Something magical happens when real materials are shaped to represent a character… [it] “It gives an honesty that makes the character more real than any other form of storytelling,” says Oettinger.

This means that the studio is just as likely to be immersed in glue, wood and clay as it is in programming. “Yes, and we’re more likely to sing the best Disney songs than to be in hyper-concentrated silence,” says game developer Mariano Pugliese. “The same enthusiasm is shared between the toy maker who transforms wood and iron into a character and the computer artist who modifies the sets in the game.”

Out of Words revolves around Kurt and Carla, two young characters on the verge of first love. “I want to tell a story that you look at in a split second where you’re searching for the right words to say to the person you’re falling in love with, which of course is almost impossible, especially if you’re in early adolescence,” Oettinger says. “A split second becomes a complete inner journey of light and darkness… In our story, this journey is shared between the two characters, and a split second becomes their inner world to find the right words and hopefully come out on the other side of the game holding hands.”

Out of Words is a cooperative adventure controlled by two players, either in person or online, and the journey the game’s protagonists take reflects the evolving relationship between the players.

“The cooperative play element is at the heart of the game design,” says design lead Jeff Sparks. “Players experience both highs and lows together, guiding Kurt and Carla through a world full of unexpected challenges.” Trust is a major theme, while the cooperative action is designed to reflect the developing bond between the characters.

Even the strangest puzzles are built on emotion. One shows a giant clay face, Sparks explains, “When Kurt and Karla walk up to his mouth, it twists and moves, almost like they’re tickling his lips… It’s essentially just a perfectly crafted door, but with all the creativity and mechanics applied to it, it comes alive in a way I’ve never seen before.”

Ultimately, Out of Words isn’t about bosses, it’s about the adventure of human interpersonal connection. “You have to appreciate the enormous adventure of expressing your love to someone for the first time,” Oettinger says. “The dream is to experience this and have a deep connection while playing.”

Aspirations are lofty: “We basically want you to remember this experience for the rest of your life.” And what could be more appropriate for a handmade toy, than to focus on what happens when you finally reach out and take one?