Tethered

Tethered for PS4 and PC is the debut of Secret Sorcery - both the game's developer and publisher. Tethered is a strategy game created exclusively for VR sets.

Plot

The player assumes the role of both a spiritual leader and guardian of small blue creatures known as Peeps, living in a skyward archipelago. The heavenly creatures work in daylight and develop their small society, as well as gather food and crystals delivering them with special spiritual energy. All of this is done in preparations for the attack of hostile snails, which comes at night.

Only the sun's earliest beams are capable of forcing the enemy to abandon the fight. Until then, the guardian's goal is to secure the base and command the blue creatures appropriately. When the sun rises, the player has to fix whatever got damaged during the night and prepare their subordinates for the snails' next attack. It is important to search for valuable crystals containing the spirtitual energy that is capable of defeating the evil once and for all.

Mechanics

In terms of the mechanics, Tethered for PS4 and PC was based on two main elements: looking around as the guardian, using VR goggles, and performing particular actions using the X button. Single clouds are located above the archipelago, and the player-controlled leader can be relocated to any of those. To do so, one has to look at one such cloud and teleport themselves by pressing X.

The situation is similar when the player gives orders to creatures. If one wants a Peep to investigate a location where food is to be found, they simply have to look there. When holding the button, one can look at a chosen Peep and release it in order to tether them. The Peep will be performing the task connected to a given place until the food supplies are empty or the player commands them otherwise.

When the night comes, the gameplay changes substantially. When it is dark, the guardian's only and the most important task is to fight the evil snails that come in waves. Although the enemies appear also during the day, there is no comparison between these two situations – there are hordes of snails attacking at night. In order to make it to the dawn, the player has to build a sufficient number of defensive structures and coordinate the actions of the little subordinates.

In Tethered for PS4 and PC, the player's goal during each level is to collect an adequate number of crystals, eliminating enemies, as well as cultivating the land.

Technical aspects

Tethered stands out with both its audio and visuals, featuring hand-painted models transfered into the game world. The creators decided on cooperation with Kenny Young - the creator of the soundtracks for such games as LittleBigPlanet or Tearaway.

Last updated on 04 July 2016