The Audio Games Lab is excited to announce the final release of The Lost Garden, a 3D first-person audio puzzle game designed by Scott Smallwood, Nicolás Arnáez, and Jessa Gillespie. This game has been in development for 3-4 years now, off and on, with many related side projects and pieces as well. Although some early versions have been available for some time, today marks the release of the final complete version, available to download for FREE for either MacOS or Windows computers.
The Lost Garden features five levels of sonic exploration in a seemingly abandoned underground urban environment. As a stranger here, the player explores the soundscape of a world cut off from nature, perhaps a future us, by interacting with sonic puzzles that open doors to new areas, and, ultimately, the lost garden. Through listening and interacting with sounds, collecting objects, and exploring, players are encouraged to consider the fragile nature of our natural soundscapes, and to speculate on what the story might be for the abandoned game world. As puzzles are solved, clues are revealed, and doors to new areas are opened, ultimately leading the perceptive player outdoors, to the lost garden.
Special thanks to my primary collaborators Nicolás Arnáez, who contributed to much of the sound and music in the game, as well as puzzle concepts, and Jessa Gillespie, who created the majority of the maps and graphics in the game, followed by my own clumsy efforts with both custom graphics and licensed assets. Thanks also goes to composer Stephan Moore, who also contributed sounds, music, and puzzle ideas; to performers Chenoa Anderson (piccolo), Joel Taylor (shakuhachi, suling), Guillaume Tardif (violin), Yue Deng (violin), Leanne Maitland (viola), and Colin Ryan (cello); and visual artists Sean Caulfield, Peter Rockwell, Sean Graye Xavier, Benton-C Bainbridge, and Madeleine Gallagher for their contributions as well.
In addition to the game itself, we are also releasing The Lost Garden soundtrack album with the main musical pieces featured in the game, with music by Scott Smallwood, Nicolás Arnáez, and Stephan Moore.
This game, along with MANY other games, musical pieces, and installation projects, was funded in part by Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Kule Institute for Advanced Study (KIAS), the Edmonton Arts Council (EAC), and the Sound Studies Institute (SSI).
