Platform: PC

Genre: Adventure

Release Date: 1996

Developer: The Neverhood, Inc.

Publisher: DreamWorks Interactive

Creative Director: Doug TenNapel



Overview

The Neverhood is a goofy adventure game created entirely using stop-motion clay animation. Although the presentation is given with a comical flavor, the narrative design and methodology is non-trivial. Symbolism and the player's imagination are effectively manipulated to create intricate story contexts and game immersion through familiar associations, such as the Hebrew creation story.



Characters

Klaymen - The protagonist. Although Klaymen doesn't have any dialog in the game, what little recognizable personality he has is presented through body language and sound effects. His personality is almost nonexistent, as he is depicted to be very naïve and infantile; His curiosity is a key trait, which leads him into several quandaries involving learning about right and wrong. Klaymen's character is the manifestion of growth into adulthood. The choices Klaymen must make become increasingly more important; Further into the game, his choices yield more prominent effects.



Klogg - The antagonist. The distinction between Klogg and Klaymen is extremely stark; For every quality that Klaymen develops, Klogg possesses the opposite quality. For instance, this can be seen though Klaymen showing compassion and acceptance toward a character that was previously hostile; Klogg demonstrates the exact opposite toward this character by destroying him when he is vulnerable.



Hoborg - The father figure. Hoborg is the powerful creator and king of the Neverhood. He is the god-figure in the story, and is used as a basis for morality. In this story, Hoborg created Klogg to be a companion and the first inhabitant of the Neverhood. Despite Hoborg's benevolence, Klogg is rebellious and indifferent; This is important to the story, as Hoborg becomes overthrown and imprisoned by his own companion.



Breakdown

The Neverhood uses symbolism to demonstrate the classic good versus evil theme. Easily recognizable symbols for good (or evil) can be seen in the physical appearance of the characters. Klaymen is depicted with average stature, logical proportions, and smooth, round edges. Klogg, alternatively, is given a thin, gangly stature, asymmetrical proportions, and sharp, spiny edges. Hoborg has a robust build, very geometric proportions (that is, He is made of connected cubes), and edges forming right angles. This symbolism attempts to distinguish personality and moral perspectives in the characters by using visual cues: Defining a character's inner identity using outer terms.



An even more recognizable symbol comes from the story itself. Using cultural and religious references, The Neverhood presents a near-universally familiar theme. This narrative mimics the Hebrew creation story; God created the earth, and shortly afterward, created Adam and Eve. God intended them to live happily in the beautiful Eden. The tree in the center of the garden was the only thing they couldn't have. Through disobedience, they ate the forbidden fruit and sacrificed their relationship with their creator. Similarly, the Neverhood story begins with Hoborg creating the Neverhood. Despite having created a beautiful new world, Hoborg became lonely; He decided to use a "life seed" (a metaphor linked with "good seed" and "bad seed" archetypes) to create Klogg. Klogg was irreverent and self-centered; Upon trying to steal Hoborg's crown (a symbol of enlightenment), Hoborg scolded and warned Klogg that the crown was the only thing he couldn't have. Disobeying Hoborg, Klogg snatched the crown away and declared himself as the new king of the Neverhood. Hoborg was rendered frozen without his crown, leaving Klogg unhindered.



In addition to symbolism, The Neverhood uses another interesting narrative approach: It attempts to present the back-story through finding video disks scattered around the world. The story spans twenty disks, each of which are found out of sequence. This is an interesting design decision, because until the abridging disks are found, the player is left wondering how large story arcs fit together. The player may invent interesting subtext that perpetuates curiosity and commitment. However, the player could alternately conclude that the middle of the story is useless when the end is known. This latter observation doesn't seem to be very relevant, as the player is likely to have questions regarding causation that ultimately need to be answered.

