Since the beginning, Sapiens have fought against time. The coming winter, the failing light of day, old age. The old god, Kronos, knew that time must be fleeting for it to be appreciated.  We have forgotten this.  We have been asleep on our watch.  The hour is getting late; Kronos waits at the gate.  If we want to see the dawn crack, we must give time back.  It’s time for Fathomland.

The player is encouraged to spend time in nature by placing game elements in maintained parks with water features.  You, the player, are guided through Fathomland with the help of a friendly duck, named QiQuac, who has intimate knowledge of the future.  In that future, Sapiens are no longer the dominant species; Nei-Chure has regained control and implemented a regime of struggle, survival, and pecking orders, with the white hot iron of evolution as its governor.  Our Anatidaen companion has chosen to brave the wrath of Nei-Chure’s father, Kronos, to assist you to become the sole representative of the our species and heal the toxic relationship with his daughter.

But your journey will not be easy.  Kronos is not your friend, and has extracted your worst traits, the Vices, to impede your progress.  Battle Ignorance, Self-doubt, Addiction, Anger, Fear, Gluttony, and Apathy, to name a few nasties, in order to overcome your Dark Side and find the notes of Nei-Chure’s Lost Song.

This is the seed of an idea.  All over the world, Humanity is spending less time in Nature.  Some call it Nature Deficit Disorder, it manifests itself in fatigue, lack of focus, loss of motivation, crime, apathy, disease and word puns.  Our common ancestors grew up in the forests, it’s coded into our DNA, our bio-cycles, our dreams and our collective sub-conscious.  But how can we Find Time for nature in our hyper-efficient schedules, built in hives of activity around our digital lives, played out in Boxes we stare at while they stare back at us.

We need to reduce our speed, to spend time, on our relationship with Nature.  Rather than prescribe anti-depressants, let’s subscribe to the vibe of effervescence!  In Fathomland, we’ve tried to capture this story in your hand.  The game is designed to leverage our fixation with tech, to gain more tic-tock time in nature, with nature, near water, touching, listening, and feeling the land; a digital aid to shinrin-yoku man.  Forest bathing with our clothes on and our minds wide.  Let’s turn the tide.  Our connection to technology is not going away, but we can shape it, we can harness it, master it.  We can be creators of stories, not consumers of the fiction that we are independent of nature, lost to time, end of the line, let’s grab the rope all pull together! Fathomland!