Viz Media, the same anime and manga distributor that manages the Sailor Moon, Tokyo Ghoul, My Hero Academia, and Naruto properties, is releasing their very first video game.

Called The World Next Door, it lets you explore the supernatural world of Emrys as Jun, a teenager with newfound magical powers, who battles fiends and forges friendships with mystical creatures on her quest to return home to Earth. It’s part strategy, part arcade and part branching dialog adventure game. Here’s the trailer: have a look, and remember to pause the SCIFI.radio stream using the controller at the upper right before you hit play.

The original concept for TWND was created by Lord Gris at a game design jam in collaboration with Corey Warning and Will Lewis in the summer of 2017. Rose City Games pitched the concept to VIZ Media shortly after, and began creating a playable prototype to flesh out the gameplay. On February 6, 2018, Rose City Games and VIZ Media announced a partnership to debut original, narrative-driven games, and that TWND would be the first title to be published. VIZ Media is slated to release two more games developed by Rose City Games over the next few years.

The game has already won a stack of awards:

2019

• SXSW Gamer’s Voice Awards – Nominee, Video Game category

2018

• PAX West, Official Selection, The MIX
• PAX West, Indie Megabooth Official Selection
• GDC demo with Intel Innovators
• Dreamhack Austin – Best Action/Adventure Game
• Terminus (Atlanta) – Golden Joystick Finalist
• Dreamhack Atlanta – Best Action / Adventure Game

The World Next Door releases March 28, 2019 for Nintendo Switch, PC and Mac via Steam, Humble Store, Itch.io and GOG.com. It will sell for $19.99 for the Premium Bundle that includes the game and the soundtrack, or you can pay just $14.99 for the game itself.

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