Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
Pine Studio is all about adventure and mystery with their games and their latest is set to take players into a world inspired by Harry Potter and Professor Layton. The Academy: The First Riddle puts players in the role of students unraveling the many secrets of Arbor’s Academy, and the game is set to launch later in June 2020.
Pine Studio announced The Academy: The First Riddle via a press release and trailer on June 3, 2020. Set to launch on June 19, 2020 via Steam, as well as on iOS and Android mobile devices, The Academy: The First Riddle puts players in the shoes of a freshman student known as Sam as he enters into the illustrious Arbor Academy. Soon after his arrival, Sam and his friends discover the Academy has secrets and mysteries waiting to be unraveled in every corner of its campus. Players will explore and take on over 200 puzzles as they discover what the Academy hides throughout its curious halls. You can see for yourself what The Academy: The First Riddle offers in its trailer below.
Croatia-based Pine Studio has an extensive history of puzzle games behind them already, having worked on the Faraway: Escape series, as well augmented reality puzzle series The Birdcage. The Academy: The First Riddle is meant to kick off a new narrative-based puzzle adventure for Pine that is heavily inspired by the Harry Potter stories and Professor Layton games, as well as architecture from the studio’s home city.
“We’re huge fans of the Professor Layton series and its colorful puzzles,” says Pine Studio’s Boris Barbir. “We wanted to make a game that would allow players on all platforms to experience that thrill of getting a puzzle just right. We are big fans of Harry Potter, so the school is greatly inspired by Hogwarts, but it’s also inspired by the architecture of our city, Zagreb. Early on in development, it became clear that what we actually set off to achieve was to capture the essence of being a kid - the feeling that adventure lies around every corner.”
Slated first for release on Steam and mobile devices, The Academy: The First Riddle will also launch on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch later in Summer 2020. Stay tuned for further details on the console release as Pine gears up to launch the game later this month.