Hibernaculum is a sci-fi horror RPG that simulates survival aboard a derelict generation ship.
Wayfarer’s Gear + Traveller’s Outfit (stretch goal exclusive backer rewards)
Hibernaculum press releases post Kickstarter launch;
– PC Gamer Article
– Screen Rant Article
https://screenrant.com/dead-space-remake-ea-hibernaculum-wormwood-horror-game/
– Bloody Disgusting Article
– Indie Retro News Article
https://www.indieretronews.com/2023/03/hibernaculum-this-sci-fi-horror-dungeon.html
– The Escapist Article
https://www.escapistmagazine.com/hibernaculum-k…
– Dread XP Article
https://www.dreadxp.com/interview/hibernaculum-…
– Gaming on Linux Article
– The Geek Article
https://thegeek.games/2023/03/06/hibernaculum-horror-promising/
With over 2500 Overwhelmingly Positive reviews on Steam, Victor’s/Wormwood Studios first game Primordia is hailed as a modern classic in the genre of graphical adventures.
Hibernaculum is a retro inspired dungeon crawler that sets out to recreate the engrossing labyrinthine experiences of the classics of days gone by, whilst also building a modern, deeply unique & explorable world of survival, mystery and macabre intrigue.
Hibernaculum is a first person sci-fi/horror role playing game with survival horror roots.
Create a unique character to explore the depths of Hibernaculum & have the experience you want to have. Choices only matter, if they matter to you.
Non-linear gameplay allows for exploration at your own pace, and in your own fashion. Forge ahead and risk calamity or riches. Conversely, pace yourself and avoid harm.
Navigate decayed industrial Realms through environmental storytelling and a unique, brooding atmosphere.
Hibernaculum is being developed in C++ for PC (Windows) Mac & Linux with immediate plans for porting to Steam Deck, iOS & Nintendo Switch.
Hibernaculum will initially be available in English, German, French & Spanish.
Hibernaculum will be released DRM-free & available on Steam + GoG.
The Flesh – Hibernaculum’s unique and gloomy atmosphere is a product of the unison of a painterly pixel art style combined with the scintillating soundscape of period-specific synthesizers & SFX to create a tapestry of unearthly delights.
The Skeleton – Branching and emergent gameplay & quality-of-life features – whilst usually buzz words thrown around to raise eyebrows are for Hibernaculum the framework that the game is built upon.
The Heart – Ratcheting difficulty plus a harmonious union of brass-tacks game mechanics along with well paced storytelling make for a game that is more than the sum of it parts. Build a nest and crawl into it or relentlessly plumb the staggering depths of the Ship for a chance at loot & possibly answers; at your own peril.
The Brain – A modular outlook to game development, asset creation and story telling creates a one-of-a-kind opportunity to meld the styles of creators in this project under the guidance of veteran indie game developer Victor Pflug, Creative Director and Founder of Wormwood Studios.
Hibernaculum was initially inspired by pre 1990’s era science fiction/speculative fiction novels. However, the story telling and development structure of Hibernaculum is largely modular in nature allowing for a wide range of influences, ideas and variations on themes & motifs that really explore the depths of the imagination as well as the darkest depths of the Ship.
This is a mode of story telling we think is more akin to the likes of filmmakers such as David Lynch, at least certainly compared with larger AAA game development companies.
Someplace in the deep recesses of the Ship a cathode ray tube clicks and pops several times, and then flares into glowing green warmth.
Esoteric numbers skitter across a curved glass surface thick with the microscopic detritus of centuries long past. But these numbers do themselves necessarily matter. It’s what they’re *doing* that matters.
Sequences of ancient codes and scrawls of commands cascade faster and faster now; the furious incantations of a long dead creator. The acrid stink of boiling capacitors and shorted out electrical components fill the small dank oubliette. A relay snaps closed with a resounding CLACK! as complex gears thick with centuries old cosmoline begin to turn to their single purpose. More machine noises begin to churn, buzz and whir in the Hibernaculum, as it stirs it’s lonely slumbering inhabitant to life…
A sleeper has awakened.
Life and death aboard the Ship are simple for most – subsistence farming for some, salvage and trade for others. Many resort to savagery as the horrors of the dark become increasingly unavoidable.
Hapless victims may become engulfed by Ixodescyclus Giganteus (AKA Maggotroids) – in game terms this entails hacking your way out of it’s entrails to survive.
The remnants of settlements built upon the bones of cities, themselves planted on the forgotten buttresses & brute iron deck plates of a Ship whose meaning and purpose is now long lost to time, perhaps never to be fulfilled. Vast nuclear reactors burn on unchecked via automated systems, with cracked coolant lines the width of school busses pouring their contamination throughout the Ship.
Technology consists of what can be found, or built, though not much is built anymore, save for knapped uranium glass tools and crude machining. The few simple pleasures of life diminish and fade, while the dangers of the farthest forgotten reaches of the Ship draw ever nearer.
Primordial and secretive R+D sectors buried in the bowels of the Ship run rampant centuries ago, have at long last borne their putrescent and overripe fruit.
In a long forgotten stasis chamber, the last of many, a door slowly grinds open.
Your journey will take you across the vast Realms of a generation ship whose name has long been forgotten, it’s purpose nullified and it’s inhabitants largely a mystery. Ship systems whose exact functions are now long lost have grown into a cornucopia of mazes and tunnels, decayed vistas with simplistic agricultural barter economies. Savage cults, brutal factions and mutant outcasts sprawl across the gigantic rotting superstructure.
Your curiosity may compel you to wander these wastes, garnering strength and equipment as you plunge further into the vast chasms of rotting alloy and disintegrating foam-crete. This path is for the foolhardy, or the brave.
Others may choose to take stock and defend themselves from the encroaching menaces of the abyss for now, instead choosing to think their way past obstacles and perhaps shore up their resources before forging ahead – content with the safety of small, but sure, gains. There are many curiosities that lay along each path. Many eyes that are upon you.
Hibernaculum has a sharp focus on exploration and atmosphere with a penchant for allowing the player to discover, uncover, salvage and piece together the mysteries of the Ship.
FEATURES
- Multiple audio logs + journals
- Upgrade + create new equipment
- Barter and trade with NPCs – or rob them blind
- Wondrous variety of old and new tech of uncover during your journey
- “S.C.I.L.D” RPG stat system based upon classic D&D
- Erect barriers/barricade doors for protection
- Scout with drones – plan and set traps to catch enemies off guard
- Follow blood trails & bait monsters
- Food gathering mechanics
- Sacrifice/aid NPCs & whole colonies against the Deeper Menaces
- Rest to regain hit points and abilities/consumables or chug healing items in combat
- Diverse array of random encounters & POI may occur during non-linear “fast travel”
- Various weather effects + ecology in larger biomes aboard Ship
With a slew of modern conveniences such as an on-screen minimap + waypoints, more aesthetic and navigable maps + hub areas, a more concise and efficient stat/combat system as well as many other UI and quality of life features we hope to make Hibernaculum the most playable, expansive, intriguing and absorbing game of it’s type since the heyday of these games; the long forgotten primeval epoch of 1995.
Good boy! Sit!
You may create a character from scratch before entering the world of Hibernaculum (with premade templates available to quick start) choosing between 3 primary classes that lean either into the Combative, Technical, or Medical, with several combinations of these professions making up the remaining 4 classes (for 7 total) and a sprinkling of unique abilities spread across the board.
Your character’s initial items are randomly generated and can be re-rolled for a diverse range of starting packs. Portraits are generated via a set number of facial features.
As you sustain damage from enemies, hazards & traps your various body parts will need treatment. Bleeding stacks damage that then slowly deducts from a body part/hit box. Radiation acts in a similar, albeit more prolonged manner and unlike bleeding status; is infinitely stackable.
Medical items such as stimulant ampoules or medikits function similarly to Haste or Cure Serious Wounds in D&D and are creatable by a character medical skills. These consumables can be continually created in quantity (dependant upon character level) automatically during sufficient rest/camp periods, as well as found scattered about the Ship – much akin to Eye of the Beholder’s praying for spells. The same is true of ammunition, traps & robotics for technical class types.
Psionic Tardigrade
Ammunition is of course useful in it’s own right for all classes, as are bombs and traps; however these items can be found throughout the ship in sufficient numbers for a purely combative class to make their way without too many side skills, given some luck and clever strategizing.
A wide array of equipment and weaponry is at your disposal – if you know how to acquire it.
Looting dungeons & then dragging all the junk out to be sorted sold and equipped can be a major hassle – but not so with R.I.O. While it won’t follow you into the deepest depths of the Ship battling armies of mutants alongside you – it will help you carry loot out.
R.I.O Features
- Set to follow your character
- Set to wait for you
- Large item storage capacity
- Can be called to your current location
Wearables such as pressure suits are essentially considered full padded armour and provide some minor protection against both mechanical, explosive and radiological/chemical injury, & are of course rather stylish.
Various items, weapons (ranged and melee) medical supplies and armour can be purchased via vending terminals and certain NPCs.
Combat is carried out in simulated real time – with dice rolls and a turn based style system under the hood. Some enemies may be irradiated so ranged combat is generally recommended. Many monster types will drop randomly generated loot.
Quad wielding EVA hardsuits (magical full plate armour equivalent) +4
A Kinetic Kill Vehicle rears up before you menacingly – it’s positional thrusters screaming in a pulsing, deafening chortle.
While limited to a single character – rarer robotic modular upgrades or “C.A.P.S” (Computerized Armature Partition System) will allow your character to triple, or even quad wield weaponry of various types by way of exosuit style modular robotic appendages. This allows for extra attacks per round and replicates more of a “blobber” (or multiple character experience). Higher tier C.A.P.S systems also allow for extended inventory slots and increased maximum carry weight. Certainly worth looking out for.
Travel throughout the Ship is carried out via exploration in the first person; dungeon crawl style. When transitioning/travelling between levels a larger travel map will be available, showing multiple ship sections.
The fast travel map also serves as a visual explanation of how the cascading rings & decks of the Ship break down individually.
There are 3 major distinct Realms to explore aboard Ship (The Forge, The Foundry & The Fall) each with a cornucopia of biomes, decks, mazes, warrens, oubliettes, catacombs, hives, colonies, nests & factions to explore, exploit or escape at your leisure.
A detailed (WIP) painting/illustration of part of The Forge.
Safe, long distance travel can be carried out via a network of trams and train cars present at several locations throughout many of the decks. However some of the deeper, more obscure and ruinous decks are inaccessible via this method and will have to be slogged to on foot regardless.
An an aerial trolley provides fast long distance transport into the Smelting Pits area.
A minimap is present on the main UI screen at all times to aid with general navigation in first person, and a larger version can be brought up via a toggle on the menu bar. Waypoints can be set and followed via the minimap to further aid navigation to specific points anywhere on an individual map, regardless of it’s size.
The minimap is present on screen at all times.
Events are essentially a mechanic used to break up dungeoneering, initiate quests, add points of interest or danger – of course always with a chance at reward. Events take the form of everything from very small vignettes such as unique searchable areas/containers to much larger and important scenes that can lead to objectives, encounters and so on.
Telekinetic Psionicist (mini boss)
A towering rocket juts rudely from the superstructure. The area looks trampled and recently occupied. An ammonia odour of hydrazine permeates the air.
In the above event you are tasked with finding and escorting a villager(s) back from the Broken Tower (a smaller decayed rocket within the Ship) this is on the larger end of the scale as far as events go in Hiber.
Left or Right?
Coming hot off the tails of the Strangeland OST creation – the same off-kilter, nuanced and highly crafted approach to soundscapes is more present than ever in Hibernaculum. Every sound heard is created from scratch utilizing vintage sound hardware that is period specific to the 1980’s & 90’s.
Synthesizers used include:
- Akai S-20 sampler (circuit bent)
- Roland MKS-100 Digital Sampler
- Kawai K1m Vector Synthesizer (circuit bent)
- Yamaha PSS-560 (circuit bent)
- Modal CraftSynth 2.0 Wavetable Synthesizer
- Behringer Wasp Deluxe
- Synthrotek* Space Drum (vacuum tube mod)
Along with period specific (1970’s – 1990’s) sound hardware – the soundscape heard on the OST and SFX/foley throughout the game is created using custom built circuit bent hardware and machines created specifically for use in Hibernaculum. The foundation of Mords/Victor’s signature sample heavy analog reverb sound is on display more than ever in the recently completed, eyeball meltingly cool custom drum machine shown below.
The Klaxon (below) is a different beast entirely and also features on the Hibernaculum OST;
Limited Edition Box Set.
Rewards (Add-Ons).
Rule Book & Encyclopaedia Hibernacula
Neon Cassette OST
The Art of Hibernaculum.
Hibernaculum is primarily the brainchild of game developer/artist Victor Pflug, Creative Director and Founder of Wormwood Studios, and original creator & Lead Developer of indie cult classic adventure game Primordia – whose legacy in the genre continues to grow a decade after it’s release. Victor was also art & sound director of Wormwood Studios recently acclaimed horror foray into the graphical adventure genre; Strangeland.
A successful Kickstarter campaign will help to pay additional collaborators such as additional animators, musicians, level designers, writers etc. We have a large team of volunteer creators, peers and associates that lent help to make our previous games successful and we plan on giving them a substantial paid role, plus of course hire ancillary help for various facets of asset production, coding and general development costs.
Victor Pflug and Wormwood Studios have a proven track record of creating critically acclaimed retro styled games, Primordia & Strangeland proving to be prime examples of the genre of adventure gaming and both released in a timely manner, on a self-funded bare bones budget. Hibernaculum had been in pre-production for several years alongside Strangeland, upon release of which full-time development on Hibernaculum began in earnest.
Hibernaculum will be made slowly but surely over the course of several years if needs be, however, funding will go a long way to bringing that timeframe down to one we can all look forward to a lot sooner; especially given our modular/freestyle team structure. It will also help pay for development of the Hibernaculum game engine (which is currently in a pre-alpha test phase) as well as publishing costs, supplementary animators, level designers, musicians & fulfilling all rewards.
Of course there is also the possibility of porting the game to different consoles and platforms, as well as additional different languages for the in-game text, modestly increasing the scope of the project with more content and more variety within that content across the board. If we manage to exceed the current financing goals, we’d love to put those ideas into action.
A luna moth perches on a decrepit side table.
- Q4 2023 – Complete engine framework inc combat, char creation, map editor
- Q2 2024 – Working Alpha, assets, level building, early testing
- Q4 2024 – Major world building, major level building, misc assets
- Q2 2025 – VO, final assets, polishing, final testing
- Q3 2025 – Release
We think Hibernaculum will prove to be every bit as much a success as Wormwood Studios previous forays into the industry.
With your help – that could be sooner rather than later – and bigger and better than it could ever be without your help.
What Lies Beneath…
Risks and challenges
Balancing the mechanics of combat with the atmosphere of discovery, nuances of branching gameplay and allowing room for the chaotic type of emergent gameplay we’re striving for will be challenging, but by no means impossible. A large testing team helped us immensely through the development of Primordia and Strangeland, we plan on calling upon their help once again and also swelling the ranks of gameplay testers. We plan on including a lot of RNG, and this will need careful calibration. Working with what is essentially an archaic game style, a primitive form of faux 3d exploration, is a challenge in and of itself. However – this was the case when Wormwood Studios began work on Primordia over a decade ago – and we took what was a dying genre and helped breathe new life into it. Primordia (and many other games like it) helped pave the way for somewhat of a resurgence of the genre of graphical/point & click adventure games – and for our part in that we’re very proud. We’d like to do something similar with this genre of old dungeon crawler style game. We think there’s a lot of room for improvement on many of the systems and weaving those together successfully, whilst also creating a unique atmosphere and gameplay style that is more than the sum of its parts, is our main goal.
Learn about accountability on Kickstarter
Environmental commitments
Visit our Environmental Resources Center to learn how Kickstarter encourages sustainable practices.
Environmentally friendly factories
Production of merchandise and packaging can be problematic for a smaller studio to fulfil and while we are fully aware of the challenges and risks involved with fluctuating shipping prices etc, we have taken these considerations into account. There is also the additional benefit of our previous freelance work with product graphics such as multiple album covers, game cover art, and also apparel design – a lot of the problems that come with a production pipeline such as working within the constraints of print media and wearables; we have considerable experience already to back that up. Our Merch is made with a minimal footprint, taking care and consideration to minimise the environmental impact ensuring physical items are made locally with local recourses used first, under a collaborative framework. In addition, most sound/synthesizer machines built for Hibernaculum are made in part from recycled materials.
Sustainable Distribution
Wormwood Studios have teamed with our long time friend and collaborator – Australian Artist Tristan Gordon – who has invested in a 6 bed printing press that will cover much of our current merch & apparel including art printing needs. This extensive working relationship, plus Wormwood’s experience with both graphic design and packaging allows us to anticipate a very smooth pipeline in this department. This Makes seeking out and relying upon local and ethically sourced materials, packaging and shipping practices a much more fruitful prospect.