By The Sea : Pilgrimage of the Colorless

Walk inside Monet's paintings

By The Sea is a quiet walking game set inside the paintings of Claude Monet. Cliffs, wheat fields, bridges and cathedrals drift gently around you, brushstrokes and all. There is no rush here. Every time you stop, the blur lifts, the world comes into focus, and memories he had buried begin to glow in the scenery.

This is not a game about finishing fast. It is a game that rewards you for staying still.

Story

A soldier comes home from the Great War and finds that the color has drained out of him. His wife is gone. Carrying her ashes, he sets out on one last pilgrimage to scatter them at the sea.

From the house on the cliff, past the place they first met, the home they built, the bridge they once crossed and the harbor he left behind, all the way to the shore, across six chapters he slowly wins back the colors he lost. Recovery does not come in a straight line. Some memories return his color; others take it away again.

How you help him

• Stop and look. Stand still and the camera pulls back, the haze clears and the landscape comes alive. Only then can you help him.

• The magnifying glass. Look closely into the scenery to uncover memories hidden inside it. Each one returns a little of his color.

• The brush. Paint over what blocks his way, from rocks and fences to storms of trauma, and the path opens.

Features

• Over a hundred of Monet's paintings, brought into gentle motion as living backgrounds

• A wordless story told through memory, light and color, with no dialogue and no tutorial text

• Color as the story itself: his color rises with every happy memory and falls when the war returns

• Six chapters and an epilogue, about 30 minutes long, made to be played in one sitting

• Free Walking mode unlocked after you finish, to wander the paintings at your own pace

• Full controller support

A note from the developer

Monet spent his life standing in the same places, watching the light change. With this game I wanted to share the comfort that comes from pausing. I hope you walk through these landscapes, and every now and then, stop for a while and stay with him on this journey.

Contains themes of war, death and grief.