Somnium

Somnium is a puzzle game using non-euclidean geometry to trap your mind in cozy dream worlds. Solve mind-bending puzzles in vast worlds that take you through a journey of an lost artist's soul.

Heavily inspired by puzzle games we adore, we produced a first-person puzzle game. Main focus of the puzzle design are non-euclidean geometries and perception subverting mechanics. Somnium is a student game project realised within the wintersemester WS2023/2024 at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria Campus Hagenberg.

We designed Somnium with one core experience in mind – dreamy, fluent spaces to find refuge to. Somnium is a first-person, mind-bending Puzzle Game that uses the surreal setting of dreams to create architecture for complex puzzles that would be impossible in real life. Visual tricks and portals are used in order to make puzzles and non-euclidean geometry that would otherwise not be possible. Somnium is an escape from reality.

As to underline a break-out of reality we stick to basic interaction systems and gaze-based puzzles. Physics are grounded in reality. We use portals in Puzzle Design to invoke a feeling of connection and strength between reality and dreamworld.

With each room, we convey the feeling of a room inside of another room. The game’s artstyle is inspired by Mœbius aka. Jean Henri Gaston Giraud a french cartoonist. To support the overarching experience, the self-composed music remains rigid, but multi-variant for each level. Somnium’s Sound Design reaches from soothing UI sounds, to softly and scarcely scattered effects. This leads to a fuss-free acoustic ambience, underlining the dreamy game experience. 

Somnium is published here on itch.io and will be exhibited at the Game Access Conference 2024 in Brno.

Dev Team

- Jan Kaindl, Game Design, Programming, Technical Artist
- Kevin La, Audio Design, Game Design, Technical Artist, UI/UX Design, Visual Artist
- Dominik Schierl, Game Design, Visual Artist
- Sebastian Schoibesberger, Game Design, Programming, Technical Artist