comes from not knowing how much of the unseen
landscape really exists to be interacted with, and
how much has yet to be conjured. “It’s that
uncertainty of what secrets the world is hiding
from you that make me want to play a game,” says
ilzard, the game’s sole developer. “Also there is a
sense of wonder of discovering things by yourself
without being told how it works.” The developer
describes Nix Umbra as a work of the “occult”, a
term that stems from the Latin for concealment.
“I tried to build everything on top of this concept
and to let the players try to bring to light its
mechanics with each new death.”GROVING THREAT
It would be a shame to spoil too much of Nix
Umbra, but suffice it to say that certain... entitiesare invisible even in the light of
your sword, their presence
telegraphed by screen distortion
and trees bursting into flame.
“I was interested in making
something abstract,” ilzard
explains. “So it is not so much a
creature in the traditional sense
[but] the concept of death itself
that I wanted to project. When
‘death’ is close, flashing lights,
subliminal skulls and
kaleidoscopic shapes starts to
assault your vision.” These
‘psychedelic visual stimuli’ –
which riff as much on surrealist or folk horror
cinema as the likes of Amnesia or Slender – areLOOK TWICE
A few of our favourite invisibility-busting tools
designed to turn your
imagination against you. As with
the Predator, it’s like the forest
itself is closing in.
Invisibility in games, is about
more than avoiding detection.
It’s a complex ambient device
that cuts to the heart of
videogames as a technological
art form. Visualizing equipment
like active camo, ensuring foes
are just perceptible enough,
and imagining how bots should
respond – all these challenges
invite haunting questions about
our interactions with virtual
worlds that are fundamentally
works of the unseen.HEAT VISION
The Predator’s other
signature gadget,
cherished by any
stealth-oriented
shooter. Useful for
tracking down
cloaked adversaries.BOLTS
The world of STALK ER
is full of invisible and
often deadly anomalies.
Fortunately, you can
always lob rusty bolts
at suspicious areas to
trigger them safely.CAMERA OBSCURA
Fatal Frame’s chunky
antique snapper is your
only means of sensing,
destroying, or
communicating with
the ghosts that riddle
each game’s landscape.WATER
Among the worst of
Amnesia: The Dark
Descent’s bogeys is the
invisible Kaernk. Listen
out for the splash of
feet as you explore
those castle cisterns.Invisibility
FE ATURE
Deathloop’s arsenal of
supernatural powers
includes invisibility.