ARIDA: Backland's Awakening

ARIDA: Backland's Awakening
Developer(s)Aoca Game Lab
Publisher(s)Aoca Game Lab
Director(s)Filipe Pereira
Designer(s)Filipe Pereira, Vinícius Santos, Gildevan Dias
Programmer(s)Laiza Camurugy, Túlio Duarte, Anderson Sampaio Carapiá
Artist(s)Victor Cardozo, Jocivaldo Bigod, Daniel Argôlo
Composer(s)Aldemar Júnior, Tharcísio Vaz
SeriesARIDA
EngineUnity engine
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Android
iOS
ReleaseAugust 15, 2019[1]
June 15, 2022 (Android)[2]
Genre(s)Adventure and Survival
Mode(s)Single-player

ARIDA: Backland's Awakening (formerly known as Projeto Sertão[3]) is an adventure game and survival video game developed by Aoca Game Lab. The game was released in August 2019, exclusively for Windows, through digital distribution on the Steam platform. The player experiences the journey of Cícera, a young countrywoman who needs to overcome obstacles imposed by hunger and drought in the Brazilian backlands of the 19th century.

Development

Arida was developed by a team of eight independent developers from the Bahia studio Aoca Game Lab, a studio founded by a historian, Filipe Pereira.[3][4] The game received funding from SECULT - Secretary of Culture of the State of Bahia, through Edital Culturas Digitais FCBA 2014.[5]

The game's atmosphere is inspired by the Canudos Region of the late 19th century, a region hit by a great drought.[6] In order to portray the environment as faithfully as possible, the team of developers traveled to the Canudos region and spent a few days observing the region.[3]

Gameplay

Arida is set in the Canudos Region of 1896.[6] Throughout the game, Cícera will have to overcome the obstacles imposed by the extreme drought. During the narrative, she will take part in historical facts like the War of Canudos (1896–1897).[7][8] For this, the player needs to gather resources, and learn survival strategies to continue the journey, such as harvesting and cooking cassava to eliminate hunger, dig wells in search of water and cooperate with other characters.[9] The main challenge is learning to deal with the tools and inputs available, and manage the resources in the best possible way.[10]

Reception

ARIDA: Backland's Awakening received positive reviews, with an aggregate score of 93/100 on Steam.[1] A significant amount of praise was aimed at the music and art, but the game was criticized for its lack of polish and poor performance on release.[11]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Result Ref.
2017 5th BIG Festival BIG Starter Nominated [12]
2017 Gamepólitan 2017 Best Art Won [1]
2018 SBGames 2018 Best Narrative Nominated [13]
2019 Nordic Discovery Contest Brazil Round Nominated [14]
2019 SBGames 2019 Best Narrative Nominated [15]
Best Game Nominated
Best Design Nominated
Best Audio Nominated

References

  1. ^ a b c "ARIDA: Backland's Awakening no Steam". store.steampowered.com. 2019-08-15. Archived from the original on 2019-01-09. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  2. ^ Catherine Ng Dellosa (May 5, 2022). "ARIDA: Backland's Awakening lets you explore the Brazilian backlands on Android devices this June 15th". Pocket Gamer. Steel Media. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Walker, Marx (2019-06-14). "Árida, jogo brasileiro que se passa no sertão nordestino, recebe novo trailer; confira". Observatório de Games (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  4. ^ "Game brasileiro revisita sertão baiano do século 19 com protagonista mulher". Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2019-09-15. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  5. ^ "A resistência dos criadores de Árida, jogo sobre a vida no sertão baiano". Overloadr (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  6. ^ a b Pinheiro, Bruna Maele Girão; Pinheiro, Regina Cláudia; Araújo, Júlio (2020). "Árida: Backland's Awakening and the Northeastern Culture Expression Through Constitutive Elements of Digital Games". Revista Leia Escola (in Brazilian Portuguese). 1. Campina Grande. ISSN 2358-5870.
  7. ^ "A historical adventure game from the Brazilian's backlands". Gamasutra.com (Press release) (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2019-08-09. Archived from the original on 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  8. ^ Smith, Jack (2020-03-25). "ARIDA e o incrível Sertão Brasileiro da AOCA Games Lab". Eurogamer.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  9. ^ "Crítica: Imerso na cultura brasileira, game é versão pop de 'Os Sertões'". Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2019-09-15. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  10. ^ Costa, Carol (2019-07-29). "Árida: Game de sobrevivência brasileiro ganha data de lançamento". IGN Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2020-02-19. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  11. ^ Varella, João (15 Sep 2019). "Imerso na cultura brasileira, game é versão pop de 'Os Sertões'". Folha (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 10 Dec 2019. Retrieved 24 Mar 2021.
  12. ^ "BIG Starter 2017". BIG Festival (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  13. ^ "SBGames 2018 - Festival de Jogos". www.sbgames.org (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2020-02-19. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  14. ^ Jacob, Riis (2019-06-24). "NGDC debut at BIG Festival in Brazil". Nordic Game Community. Archived from the original on 2020-02-19. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  15. ^ "» Festival de Jogos" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2020-02-19. Retrieved 2021-01-26.