Trüberbrook

Trüberbrook does everything differently, yet gets so much just right. With its charming, meticulously detailed model-making aesthetic – achieved using real sets – this adventure game succeeds in visually uncovering a distinctive and unique facet of this classic genre. However, Trüberbrook doesn’t just break with video game conventions through its handcrafted miniature backdrops – which were subsequently digitised – but also relies on a fresh and original setting. A blend of Heimatfilm, science fiction and adventure: this is how you’ve never seen the German countryside of the late 1960s before – humorous and captivating, a pop-cultural homage brimming with allusions and atmosphere. Well-chosen, prominent voice actors breathe life into the lovingly designed and endearingly quirky characters. The journey to the climatic health resort of Trüberbrook is accompanied by a musical score that is both authentic and fitting, in a genre the developer describes as ‘quiet apocalyptic jazz’. The wealth of detail, applied consistently across all aspects of the production, pays off: Trüberbrook feels different, seems curiously out of step with its time, and exudes a fascinating charm from the very first minute.

The DCP Jury 2019