Circus Atos

Factsheet

Developer:
Circus Atos
Based in Prague, Czech republic

Release date:
27 April, 2017

Platforms:
Nintendo Switch
Xbox
Apple App Store
Google Play
itch.io
Steam
Mac App Store
Humble Store

Website:
underleaves.circusatos.com

Regular Price:

Description

Journey into the forest, the jungle or the depths of the deep blue sea.

Find chestnuts for the pigs, a caterpillar for the crocodile or a starfish one, two three.

Under Leaves is a color-filled hidden object game from the world of animals. Gorgeous hand-drawn watercolor illustrations and a soothing soundscape make for a gently exotic experience. The game will take you through 9 different locations around the world where 29 animals lie, waiting to be discovered. Free of any text, the game is accessible to everyone.

Update - January 2018

We released a free update containing three brand new locations and nine new animals. You will love the colors!

Update - February 2021

We are releasing console version for Nintendo Switchs and Xbox in cooperation with RedDeerGames publisher.

History

Under Leaves was created by Barbora Podhorska as part of her final Bachelor work for a degree in Animation and Interactive Art at the Faculty of Art and Design in Pilsen. It was built with the help of her partner, programmer and game designer, Michal Berlinger... and just a little hindered by their bouncing baby son.

Bara was always an illustrator with a deep love of nature and animals. Some time ago she was collaborating with Michal on a game they called "Hejaaa" – an adventure about shepherds in the mountains. She and Michal had made several smaller games before this one but both wanted Hejaa to be a more ambitious project. Hopes turned into expectations, however, which themselves turned into pressures... After a story draft and a visual test, it became clear that Hejaa was getting too big and was suffering from too many gaps in the design. Bara grew frustrated with the lack of progress and Michal was not able to push the game design any further.

And yet, this time of pressure turned out to be important for Bara and Michal. Whenever a day grew weary or frustrating – be it from the project, motherhood or her studies – Bara would relax and unwind by painting monochromatic watercolor images. When Michal saw her do this, he stopped pulling his hair out and began thinking how they could make a game around the soothing worlds she painted when away from work. Their aim quickly became to create a project that Bara could build mostly alone, one with a strong artistic focus. While searching hard for the right type of gameplay, the idea came to make 'the search' the game itself – a simple hidden object mechanic would be ideal! Few decisions in the history of the studio were as simply perfect as this. A working prototype was ready in a month and it stirred up a great response from friends and university tutors alike, which gave Bara and Michal a gigantic boost. It took a year to fully finish the game and Bara would drop into uni whenever she could. The day Bara delivered the finished game was the same day it was released all around the world she'd spent a full year painting.

Features

• gorgeous hand-drawn watercolor visual
• relaxing gameplay and audio
• 9 different locations over the world
• 29 animated animals to discover
• accessible to everyone because no text! (just numbers)

Under Leaves Credits

Barbora Podhorska
Designer

Michal Berlinger
Programmer

Marek Poledna
Sound designer

Contact

Inquiries
michal@circusatos.com

Twitter
twitter.com/CircusAtos

Facebook
facebook.com/CircusAtos

Web
circusatos.com