'At the same time, they're both familiar and a little terrifying. 'The thing that fascinates me about birds is that they're the last bit of nature that's able to cohabitate with us,' Dallas explains several months later, of his ongoing fascination with all things feathered. Though he couldn't talk about it at the time, this was a matter of days before the unveiling of his company's first game, The Unfinished Swan, at a Sony press event. Moments later I found myself in a separate conversation, in which Dallas explained the various complications behind simulating flight in games, particularly the flight of birds. 'Hey, are you guys talking about bird games?' he asked, having overheard a few of us chatting about the sensation of flight in Thatgamecompany's Journey. The first time I met Ian Dallas was at a mutual friend's farewell party in Los Angeles, earlier this year. Throwing paint to see what is in front of you has been compared to the experience of being partially sighted and feeling your way through the world.Minding the many gaps of game development with Ian Dallas, creator of Sony and Giant Sparrow's upcoming The Unfinished Swan. There he finds a king and a kingdom that becomes an allegory about dealing with loss and what comes next.Īlong with the unusual interaction, the black, white and primary colours of the game give it an otherworldly feel.

With the help of his mother's magical silver paintbrush, Monroe begins to explore the painted world as he chases the swan.

One night, Monroe wakes up to find the swan has escaped its painting, and he chases it until he finds himself in the mysterious painted world. Monroe is told by his orphanage that he is only allowed to keep one of her paintings, so he chooses her favourite, a painting of a swan missing its neck. She was a painter who is known to have never finished a painting, having created over 300 incomplete works. His exploration is driven by a desire to recover his deceased mother. The character we play is the boy, Monroe.

It stands out for the unusual revealing of a world you can't see, by what the paint hits. The tactile experience leads you into a fairy tale about an unfinished painting that leads a child back to his parent. The Unfinished Swan invites you to explore a world by splashing paint on it.

Download free the unfinished swan game