GAMES WE LOVE

Under a sci-fi sea

Dive deep to explore the handmade world of Harold Halibut.

There’s more to life than patching leaks and mopping floors – but when you live in a spaceship stuck at the bottom of an alien ocean, you’re not exactly swimming in career options. In Harold Halibut, you’re a kindhearted handyman who navigates awkward friendships and clunky technology to escape an uncharted waterworld.

This might mean scrubbing mysterious graffiti off the walls or periodically tangling with a fishy CEO. And when a surprise visitor arrives, it’ll rock your boat – and reveal the true depths of this gorgeous graphical adventure.

Something is trapped in the sunken spaceship’s enormous water filter – and Harold’s life is about to get a lot more interesting.

What we love: The incredible look. Harold Halibut’s stunning claymation-style characters and hand-built sets make it feel like a stop-motion movie – with you in the lead role. The ship’s retro-futuristic hallways, labs and video arcades are rendered in a side-scrolling style... until an alien transforms Harold’s perspective, making the ocean planet an even tastier feast for the eyes.

Quick tip: Don’t overthink cleaning the filter tank. Access the tank by selecting the red node, then pressing the button that looks like a round fish and a narrow rectangle. Drain the tank by clicking on the key with the swirly symbol. All done!

Meet the creator: German indie developer Slow Bros. worked on Harold Halibut for a full decade, building buzz – and funding – for what started out as a part-time project. The team handcrafted puppets, props and locations from a variety of materials (including an estimated 440 pounds of clay), then photographed them from multiple angles to form 3D digital replicas.