What Never Was
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
What Never Was.
A short story-driven first-person focused on exploration and puzzle-solving, developed in Unreal Engine 4.
- Sometime in the late 2000s, Howard James Wright - an old but kind man - perishes. Leaving behind him many adventures, relics he's collected over the years as well as books authored, he is also leaving Sarah, his granddaughter behind.
Having to shoulder the arduous task of clearing out her grandfathers attic, she is soon to find that not everything about her grandfathers attic is what it seems. -
Website: www.WhatNeverWas.se
Twitter: https://twitter.com/whatneverwas_se
Facebook: www.facebook.com/whatneverwasgame
Donate on paypal: https://paypal.me/ackehallgren
Download
Development log
- What Never Was is awarded an Epic MegaGrantMay 23, 2020
- What Never Was now available for LinuxApr 20, 2019
- What Comes Next?Feb 08, 2019
- What Never Was - Patch #3Jan 27, 2019
- What Never Was - Patch #1Jan 16, 2019
Comments
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Nice game 👍
Really enjoyed this! Would love to see a more fleshed out or longer 'Chapter 2' game one day ♡
Mines not downloading its only making a google note
i loved
This was great I hope you make a sequel to it, that would be great, it was done so well, very powerful and touching
Loved the game Smooth gameplay and a great soundtrack especially the voice acting. Only thing i think could have been better would have been a slightly larger cursor I had a lot of problems seeming it at times.
My gameplay video
I love these story games. Please make more!
Very well done game, puzzles are hard enough to give joy solving them :)
Apple M1 Gameplay !
Is this a cancelled prototype? It was very cool and very well made. Never was, but It could have been.
It is not a cancelled prototype! Chapter II is being worked on! :)
http://whatneverwas.se/#chapterii
Oh Wow! Cool!
Not sure if any one will check this, but here's my ake on this :D
ALL HAIL SASSY PIG
Loved the game! Looking forward to the second chapter!
Nice game, you did a nice job and Michaela has a nice voice :P
Very nice prologue. I hope to see Chapter II some day!
I grew up surrounded by Fae stories (I'm Irish and it's a big part of our history), which included tales and art by Froud. Seeing this short was like going back to my childhood, when I still believed in the Little People and their influence on our world.
The game is beautiful and I do hope part 2 makes it out as I can't wait to play. You definately have a full length game here and one that dives so imaginatively into a world not yet brought properly into games in this way.
Thanks for making this and please, make more!
A really lovely experience! I really enjoyed the puzzles on this game and would love to experience more of the story!
Hello ackehallgren, just finished playing this game, and despite being short, i l enjoyed it very much, and caught my attention for what is going to happen next ( if hopefully its going to be something happening )!
Small edit: i asked if this game will have a continuation, but i've seen on fb that you posted some vids about chapter II. Really glad and hyped to see that! Good luck on your projects!
Howdy linux user here ...
Your game does work on my end on Ubuntu 16.04 with the latest Nvidia Drivers however there's a bit of tiny problem .
Actually quite a major one ... indeed upon clickin on exit to desktop yes the game does exit but it freezes the entire system as a result.
Sooo I actually don't exactly have a log to offer here (I'm gonna try to solve that issue on my end see what's up with that )
On the positive side of things Thanks for using SDL for the sound so that the unreal engie doesn't clog up my PAVU control panel with 7 audio streams ( no seriously single audio steam being sent to PulseAudio is a rarity from games made with Unreal Engine 4 soo thank you for that )
Hey there! Thanks for your detailed post. I'm sorry your system crashes and I unfortunately have no idea what is causing it. I don't have a linux system myself and have no ability to bug-test it unfortunately. I hope it's playable enough for you and that it doesn't cause you any big issues except for the freezes, but will unfortunately not be able to bugfix anything.
Thanks for showing interest in my game though! :)
Like I said at least the game works and since my post I have done further testing and it seems you might not be at fault here ...
I'm migrating to Ubuntu 18.04 tomorow ( I was still on 16.04 for video editinng reasons - some of my plugins were not back on 18.04 just yet hence I waited before migrating ) and if my testing are correct the NVIDIA drivers for laptops on 16.04 were the problem not the game .
I'll be sure to keep you posted and also update and edit my original comment should my suspicion showed to be true.
Regardless I'm amazed that an Unreal Engine 4 based game worked that well and was that correctly put together on Linux (sorry but once I'll make my video about your game that single audio stream thing will get mentionned you have no idea how annoying that is for linux gamers when devs are not relying on SDL mixer and UE 4 shits out a ton of audio stream at random so you'll receive praise for at least that ;) )
Thanks for the wonderful experience, not entirely what we expected but still very in depth and engaging!!.
What Never Was earned a feature ♥ https://www.indiegamelover.com/2019/01/what-never-was.html
The exploration of the well known turning into the unknown is such a fascinating trope. I loved this little game, despite it's shortness (however, I recognize it's probably for the best). The voice acting was really nice, Sarah was so emotive it gave me a heavy nostalgic feeling, very contagious. Congratulations!
PD: The Indiana Jones reference was so good haha!
Just stopping by to say thank you for this short but sweet experience! I like the concept that there are "two worlds" which always makes it feel bigger than it is.
Also cred for creating puzzles which i understood and figured out. Not to hard, but still rewarding.
Keep up the good work.
I absolutely loved this. It made me feel nostalgic right from the get go. I love the emotional touches of being able to interact with nearly everything, and would super, super love to see anything more from this world some day!
I played it, but anyone scrolling down to read - I really suggest you play it for yourself. It's roughly thirty minutes of your life, spent in a delightful attic full of memories and commentary, with clever but solvable riddles.
Gave it a go...
Such a gorgeous looking game with a very interesting story! Wish the game was longer though!
This game was AWESOME! Really enjoyed the audio and visuals of the game.
I'm very excited to see more of it, because let's face it ... the game was short but damn it was great!
Great job keep it up!
Loved it!! Amazing atmosphere and puzzles <3
I'm now compelled to know more about the characters and the magical universe What Never Was is set in. I'm sure puzzles will be more complicated. If so, maybe an option for hints. Looking forward to the next chapter!
i think this game has connection with game called "maries room" in itch.io pages
but still it different. it feels like this game is the sequel after you explore your friends room on maries room and now on your grandfather atticWhat a beautiful game! Loved the puzzles and the story. I wish I could see more adventures of Sarah but this was amazing!
i love this game it look so good!!u
A beautiful game. We enjoyed it very much.
Here is a short video we made while playing:
Loved this short but awesome game! Hope there is more of it to come.
Read my review about it here!
really enjoyed this Fantastic Game! I’d love to see a full game. Also I think this would be awesome in VR
Thanks for making this. It was a surprisingly emotional experience, and there's so much detail in the attic, and even nonessential items have voiced flavor text. The amount of effort you put into this really shows.
Bonus: I'd love to see hidden Mr. Piggles references in whatever worlds she visits next, like crudely drawn cave art, or a real pig named Mr. Piggles, or an NPC with a name like Mr. Squiggles who snorts when they talk. He's just a cool little guy.
Edit: Ooh, what if the actual Mr. Piggles shows up and Sarah's just like "How did you get here?"
Loved this. It was a great story. I would love to see the adventure Sarah went on in the future or more to this story. This game left me on a cliffhanger of what she went through. I really look forward to seeing what is next.