Telling Tails

Polyarc speaks to Jess Kinghorn and asks if we’re sitting comfortably for an all-new adventure in Moss: Book II

- By Jess Kinghorn

FORMAT PSVR / ETA SPRING 2022 / PUB POLYARC DEV POLYARC / PLAYERS 1

Once upon a time, a tiny mouse introduced herself using American Sign Language and signalled her way into the hearts of many. Whiskered protagonist Quill found herself among even more friends when she embarked on her first PSVR adventure a few months later. Since her 2018 debut in Moss, Quill has solved more than her fair share of puzzles, saved her uncle, and defeated the fire-breathing snake Sarffog – but that’s far from the end of the story. Moss: Book II continues the tale later this spring.

Lincoln Davis, publishing director at developer Polyarc, begins: “We wanted to double down on all those things that we fell in love with in Book I – the depth of the environments, your physical presence in the world, that immersion, and obviously your connection with Quill.”

The threat to Quill’s home didn’t end with Sarffog, and following the snake’s defeat a certain nefarious gaze has turned towards the mouse. Arcane forces are at work, and Quill has tracked them to their base – an ornate castle. But whereas Moss was a storybook adventure that progressed with the turn of each page, developer Polyarc is taking a different approach for Moss: Book II.

Brendan Walker, principal engineer at Polyarc, tells us, “A lot of the rooms in the first game were sort of singleuse – you’d enter a puzzle, you’d do it once, and you’re done with it.”

In Book II the castle is an interconnected space, and you’ll revisit rooms to discover they are not exactly how you left them.