Chants of Sennaar
Developer(s)Rundisc
Publisher(s)Focus Entertainment
Designer(s)
  • Julien Moya
  • Thomas Panuel
Programmer(s)Thomas Panuel
Artist(s)
  • Julien Moya
  • Rachelle "Lillycat" Bartel
Composer(s)Thomas Brunet
EngineUnity[1]
Platform(s)
Release
  • WW: 5 September 2023
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Chants of Sennaar is a 2023 adventure video game developed by Rundisc and published by Focus Entertainment. Players solve puzzles and minigames to translate fictional languages.

Gameplay

Players explore a structure inspired by the Tower of Babel - which the titular Sennaar refers to - full of people who speak fictional languages, represented by logographic writing systems: Encountered languages must be translated using clues such as non-verbal communication used by other non-player characters, illustrated signs, or other contextual clues. The player is aided by a notebook that contains the list of graphemes the player has encountered up to that point, and they may type in a word they assume is the meaning for a grapheme, which is then displayed above that grapheme the next time they encounter it. Once the player encounters enough graphemes, the notebook offers tests to see if a player has correctly translated the graphemes by displaying drawings of nouns, verbs or adjectives which the player must match the correct grapheme to; if the player correctly matches all graphemes to meanings on the page, those graphemes will be considered solved, and their real English meaning will be displayed above them - if all graphemes from a sentence are solved, a full English translation is shown. As players progress higher through the tower, they encounter new languages that must be translated.[2]

Different languages have different writing systems and different language characteristics: some languages signify plural as repeating the word (e.g. "doors" is written as "door door"), while others have a separate grapheme for marking the previous or next noun as plural (e.g. "[plural] door" or "door [plural]"). Different languages also can have differing syntax, putting the predicate and subject in different places of a sentence. The graphemes themselves may also provide hints towards the meaning, with languages having determinatives (e.g. verbs, or nouns that involve humans).

Some areas introduce stealth gameplay; if players are caught, they are sent to the entrance of the area, where they may try again.[3]

Plot

The protagonist awakens from a sarcophagus situated at the ground level of a large spiraling Ziggurat. Through exploring the mysterious structure, they find that every level is home to a distinct caste of people with their own culture and language. The protagonist must decipher each caste's language, using the knowledge gained to help them ascend to the next level.

First, they encounter the Devotees, who seek a god-like being believed to be at the top of the tower. The Devotees are blocked by the imposing Warriors, who have a sworn duty to drive away those they consider "impure", while awaiting a message from the revered Bards on the level above. The Bards celebrate beauty and the arts, though their hedonistic lifestyle is only possible through the involuntary servitude of some of their members. They mock the idea of ascending further up the tower, as a deadly monster stalks. The protagonist is able to elude the monster and join the Alchemists, a group of miners and scientists conducting esoteric research. They attempt to unlock a giant gate to the tower's highest level, where its mythical creators reside.

Beyond the gate, the protagonist finds the technologically advanced Anchorites, who wear virtual reality headsets at all times, shutting themselves away from the rest of the tower which they consider doomed. In a secret chamber, one of the Anchorites explains that their people built the tower long ago and were its first residents. Others then arrived and populated the lower levels, but would not communicate due to fear and misunderstanding, thus forming the castes. Responding in kind, the Anchorites entered self-imposed exile, a state of detachment perpetuated by their computer system's hostile AI (which itself comes to be known as Exile). The protagonist discovers they were created to reconnect the castes; they are then tasked with dismantling Exile and translating between the castes using communication terminals on each level.

Through the protagonist's efforts, the Devotees win over the Warriors by playing music and invite the Bards' servants down to their abbey; the Warriors assist the Alchemists in dealing with the monster; the Alchemists teach the Bards about their shared ancestry and help the Devotees with their dying plants; and the Bards perform a concert for the Warriors. Eventually, the Anchorites are able to connect with the other castes through the terminals as well.

Nearing the end of their mission, the protagonist gets captured by the Exile AI after the protagonist climbs to the highest point of the structure to find a ceremonial altar, but it does not activate. The game seemingly ends with the protagonist's disappointment, restarting at the sarcophagus. This time, however, the world has a glitched, uncanny quality to it, devoid of most characters and appearing damaged. The protagonist traverses the tower again, while Exile attempts to stop them by unleashing the monster. Ultimately, the protagonist realizes they are in the exile and manages to break free.

Upon returning to the real world, they find the Anchorites now disconnected from their headsets, socializing with one other and expressing gratitude. Resuming their mission, the protagonist is finally able to activate the altar at the tower's peak, with several others in observance. The altar lights up and displays a series of glyphs, representing the ideals of each caste (God, Duty, Beauty, Transformation, Exile) as fundamentally similar. The game ends with members of all castes on top of the tower conversing, having overcome the language barrier.

Development

Chants of Sennaar was developed by a two-man team, Julien Moya and Thomas Panuel, along with three freelance programmers. The two had previously worked together on the game Varion, released in 2018; while it had few sales, they felt it helped to demonstrate that they could develop and release a full game on their own. They came up with the idea for Chants just at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.[4] Initially, they wanted to have a game about a protagonist that used stealth, but Moya had played Heaven's Vault, a 2019 game with a similar mechanic around language deciphering, as well as the 1988 game Captain Blood.[5] The pair felt that they could better implement such a system into their game. They worked on the game over the next year and a half. Design of the game was influenced by a church in Toulouse as well as Roman architecture designs and from other French artists.[4]

They brought it to the 2021 Gamescom convention, seeking out a publisher to help with marketing. Focus Entertainment saw potential in the game and offered to help fund the rest of the game's development. With the extra funding, they were able to bring a freelance sound designer to help add sounds and music to the game over the next two years.[4]

Chants of Sennaar was released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on 5 September 2023.[6] It was developed in France.[7]

Reception

Chants of Sennaar received "generally favorable reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic.[14]

Eurogamer likened it to innovative Amiga games and called it "a fascinating, thoughtful game".[2] Although Polygon found the puzzles occasionally frustrating, they said, "When Chants of Sennaar is on a roll, there's really nothing else like it."[3] Hardcore Gamer praised its concept and called it "immensely clever and unique". They especially liked the epiphany of solving what words mean and learning about the different cultures.[15] Digital Trends praised what they felt were "ingenious puzzles", "thoughtfully built languages", an "engrossing setting", and "striking art style". They ultimately selected it as an editors' choice.[8] Commenting on its lack of pleasurable hooks, Slant Magazine described Chants of Sennaar as "an interesting and impressive game that ultimately feels more than a bit academic".[16] Push Square "highly recommended" the game, which they found "terrifically unique", though they found the stealth sequences irritating.[7]

Zachary Small of The New York Times named Chants of Sennaar as one of his top ten games for 2023.[17]

Awards

Awards and nominations for Chants of Sennaar
YearAwardCategoryResultRef.
2023 Golden Joystick Awards Xbox Game of the Year Nominated [18]
The Game Awards Games for Impact Nominated [19]
2024 The Steam Awards Best Soundtrack Nominated [20]
New York Game Awards Off Broadway Award for Best Indie Game Pending [21]
Statue of Liberty Award for Best World Pending
Independent Games Festival Seumas McNally Grand Prize Honorable mention [22]
Excellence in Visual Art Honorable mention
Excellence in Design Pending

References

  1. ↑ "Made with Unity September 2023 roundup: Awards voting opens and other community highlights". Unity Technologies. October 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Donlan, Christopher (September 12, 2023). "Chants of Sennaar review - a puzzling linguistic marvel". Eurogamer. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Price, Emily (September 9, 2023). "When puzzle game Chants of Sennaar is on a roll, there's nothing else like it". Polygon. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 Schreier, Jason (October 13, 2023). "Two Hobbyists Made One of This Year's Best Video Games". Bloomberg News. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  5. ↑ Totilo, Stephen (September 8, 2023). "The hero of this new video game is a translator". Axios. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  6. ↑ Romano, Sal (April 19, 2023). "Chants of Sennaar launches September 5 for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC". Gematsu. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  7. 1 2 Fitzgerald, Simon (September 5, 2023). "Mini Review: Chants of Sennaar (PS4) - A Terrific Translator Puzzler". Push Square. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  8. 1 2 Colantonio, Giovanni (September 5, 2023). "Chants of Sennaar review: puzzles and linguistics collide in can't miss indie". Digital Trends. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Chants of Sennaar". Edge. No. 390. October 4, 2023. p. 130.
  10. ↑ Donlan, Christian (September 12, 2023). "Chants of Sennaar review - a puzzling linguistic marvel". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on December 24, 2023.
  11. ↑ Wacholz, Charlie (September 6, 2023). "Chants of Sennaar Review". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023.
  12. ↑ Fitzgerald, Simon (September 5, 2023). "Mini Review: Chants of Sennaar (PS4) - A Terrific Translator Puzzler". Push Square. Archived from the original on November 27, 2023.
  13. ↑ Magistrelli, Claudio (September 20, 2023). "Chants of Sennaar - Recensione". The Games Machine (in Italian). Archived from the original on September 27, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Chants of Sennaar". Metacritic. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  15. ↑ LeClair, Kyle (September 5, 2023). "Review: Chants of Sennaar". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  16. ↑ Demorest, Mitchell (September 5, 2023). "Chants of Sennaar Review: A Good Time for Linguists with an Anthropological View". Slant Magazine. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  17. ↑ Small, Zachary (December 2, 2023). "Best Video Games of 2023". The New York Times. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
  18. ↑ Loveridge, Sam (November 10, 2023). "Here are all the Golden Joystick Awards 2023 winners". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on November 10, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  19. ↑ "The Game Awards 2023 Nominees Announced, See Them All Now". GameSpot. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  20. ↑ Blake, Vikki (December 16, 2023). "The Steam Awards 2023 shortlist has been revealed - here's what Steam players think are 2023's best games". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on December 18, 2023.
  21. ↑ Kerr, Chris (January 4, 2024). "Alan Wake II and Baldur's Gate 3 lead 2024 New York Game Awards nominees". Game Developer. Archived from the original on January 4, 2024.
  22. ↑ Elderkin, Beth (January 11, 2024). "Visai Games' Venba leads finalists for the 2024 IGF Awards". Game Developer. Archived from the original on January 11, 2024.
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