‘One Upon Light’: A Moody, Promising Puzzler From a Singaporean Studio

It is highly unusual and not often that one hears about a PC title being developed as an indie game originating from within Asia. The Singapore University of Technology and Design Game Lab, more affectionately known as Ice Cream Truck Games is the perpetrator behind this audacious move with their latest title One Upon Light.

Impressions

I recently had the opportunity to meet the team and playtest a work-in-progress pre-release build of the game which spanned the first few levels. One Upon Light presents itself through a top-down view entirely painted in a monochrome, bringing with it a unique art style that has a somber tone to it and a deep sense of mystery. My first observation was the lack of hand-holding involved. As soon as the first level began, a simple illustration displayed the respective keyboard controls for my character and I was left alone to play.

The team sat around me and watched on in eager silence as I steered a woozy, bespectacled scientist through a labyrinth of passageways. Before long, I encountered my first obstacle, a beam of light that caused the scientist to collapse in a heap. At the next try I navigated past by taking an alternate route and eventually reached the end of the level.

Justin, the game designer enthusiastically chimed in at this point and explained their intent of challenging players through a process of self-discovery of One Upon Light’s ins and outs. As I traversed through the remainder of the pre-release build, I was introduced to more diverse mechanics like object interaction to block out light beams and create shadows for me to safely progress. When I asked them about the apparent lack of any story elements, they smiled and disclosed the narrative journey and motivations of the game’s protagonist will be gradually revealed over the course of the campaign.

On the game’s art direction, Yi Xin, the chirpy game artist, explained their initial conceptualization decision of light and darkness, black and white, as a core topic to build the game upon. As development progressed on One Upon Light, the present form of avoiding the light as a central mechanic took shape and the art style of the game was drawn in this manner to emphasize this contrast.

A coincidence

Previously given the working title Dying Light, the team encountered a twist of fate when Techland, the creators of the popular Dead Island series, announced their new title last month which unexpectedly bore the exact same name.

Before the name could be switched out due to a lack of trademark, a flood of traffic looking for more information on Techland’s Dying Light began to discover the Singaporean team’s YouTube trailer. The comments were predominantly positive, bolstered by a humble apology posted by the team to viewers who came looking for the Techland game.

Final thoughts

On the back of Ice Cream Truck Games’ successful showcase at Casual Connect Asia earlier this year, this is perhaps an encouraging sign that the crew is heading down the correct road of a successful indie title. Additionally, its departure from an on-rails approach appeals to me as an old school gamer who loves a fresh challenge. They are presently polishing up the game for a targeted September release on the PC and Mac platform, so stay tuned for my full review then.