A new indie game is releasing this May, a story driven adventure called Rakuen from Plants vs. Zombies composer Laura Shigihara. The game will be launching on May 10th on Steam. A new release date announcement trailer is now available. Check it out below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfBbIfigzVc

This heartwarming tale tells the story of a boy who lives in a hospital and his loving mother. The child wants to visit the world from his favorite fantasy story and he and his mother embark on the adventure together. While there, he’ll need to complete a set of challenges to have his wish granted by the Guardian of the Forest. To complete his tasks he’ll need to help his fellow patients in the hospital and their alter-egos in the fantasy world.

Rakuen is all about the story, told through classic pixel art. As the mysterious and emotional tale unfolds players will engage in various non-combat gameplay. Interesting dungeons can be explored, escape room puzzles solved and intriguing dialogue based mysteries understood as the plot unfolds. While in the fantasy world players will be sent on amusing quests by the unique creatures that inhabit it.

In order to help out your fellow patients, you’ll make the hospital a better place by collecting items and making friendships. You’ll also get to travel the path of everyone’s life so that you can understand what their troubles are and how you can help them. Get to know a grumpy old man with a mysterious music box, a woman in a coma and her devoted husband, as well as an ill little girl who misses her friend.

A storybook page where the boy speaks with the Guardian of the Forest.

Music is also a feature of Rakuen with a completely original soundtrack. The tracks include multiple vocal songs which are closely tied to individual characters in the game. You can get a sample of the soundtrack here. It will be available to purchase on May 10th as well.

The indie game was developed by a two-person team composed of Laura Shigihara and Emmy Toyonaga. Shigihara - who has composed music for games like Plant vs. Zombies, To the Moon, World of Warcaft, and Surviving High School - is responsible for design, programming, writing, audio and pixel art. Toyonaga - an artist for The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 - is the game’s lead artist contributing character portraits and pixel art. Rakuen will be available on Steam May 10, 2017, for PC, Mac, and Linux.