A cozy, handmade stop-motion adventure... unless the maze takes a darker turn... Guide your wooden mouse through a labyrinth full of puzzles & unknown dangers in search of an exit to a happier place.
Éalú is an award winning, 2 to 4 hour long, meditative experience, depending on how deeply you explore the maze, focused on physical craft and reflection - made by a small, independent team of artists. It's best defined as a highly interactive, silent film set to a gorgeous instrumental score.
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In a cozy, quiet nest at the heart of a stone-and-wood labyrinth, a clockwork mouse sleeps — and dreams of the outside world.
When it awakens, the only way forward is through. To escape, the mouse must rely on clever thinking, keen senses, and hope — despite past failures. The maze is filled with locked doors, cryptic puzzles, and lurking dangers. But maybe, this time, freedom is possible.
Rock Paper Shotgun 's Edwin Evans-Thirwell wrote "It's a lovely-looking thing - a 'true stop-motion game' "
PC Gamer 's Ted Litchfield wrote, on previewing Éalú, that it's
"...Somewhat unsettling, like a cross between Myst and Wallace and Gromit—cozy, but also lonely, with flashes of something sinister here and there."
"...I think Beyond the Bark is cooking with a really special, singular atmosphere."
Heybox / 不羁猫探索队 scored Éalú 4/4 and remarked
"The strongest thematic unity of any indie I played this season… its handcrafted stop-motion quality simply cannot be replicated in 3D."
Éalú is a Point & Click Puzzle/Adventure Where You: Guide a wooden, clockwork mouse from the maze’s center to its outer edges.
Solve environmental puzzles, uncover clues, and have dangerous encounters.
Eat cheese!
Discover the secrets of the maze — and the story hidden beneath it.
Background Éalú is a spiritual sequel to "Tomcat Disposables" by Will Wood. If you're keen to know more, said short film can be seen by searching for Tomcat Disposables on YouTube, & gives backstory for our beloved mouse. The themes which inspired our game & its mechanics center on the confusing, sometimes destructive nature of algorithm driven behavioral loops, & the potential to be drawn in by or escape them.
An Artistic Experience Lovingly Made by a Tiny Team As mentioned at the top, based on playtests we anticipate that, for most players, Éalú will be a focused 2 to 4 hour long experience. We put a lot of thought, time & care into our wordless story & it's themes which are expressed in tandem with phenomenal music, all with a goal of creating the ability to control a character in a gorgeous silent film.
All of the music was composed and recorded specifically for this artistic work by a single composer, and every illustration was drawn by hand.
Éalú was made with no budget & no crowdfunding. Just 4 people passionate about the project:
Ivan Owen of Beyond the Bark- Concept, design, animation & writing
Benjamin Orr- Design, Unity development & writing
Will Wood- Musical composition, performance & recording
JT Paton- Original illustrations & promotional art
We hope you enjoy experiencing Éalú as much as we loved making it.
Want to get in touch with us? Feel free to reach out to us at [email protected]
Official site
On Steam
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