Denska – a dilapidated and abandoned fishing town devastated by an environmental disaster. It’s here you start your journey in Concrete Genie. You play as Ash, a young artist exploring the now dangerous area he once grew up in, lighting it up with his art while avoiding the bullies that lurk around the corner.
In case you missed it, Concrete Genie was announced at Sony’s conference at Paris Games Week in 2017, and is being developed by PixelOpus, the studio behind Entwined. It’s an ambitious indie game that, from my perspective, is shaping up to be another PS4 exclusive single-player gem, and it explores a theme I don’t think I’ve seen touched on in such a creative way in a game – bullying.
Concrete Genie – Story Trailer | PS4 Watch on YouTube
After going hands on with a demo of Concrete Genie, I got a chance to have a chat with creative director Dominic Robillard and art director Jeff Sallangi who told me what inspired them to make the game.
“I think one of the most important things, and we’ve seen this when we’ve been testing the game even with adults as well, is it’s great to give people a way to talk about these things,” Dominic said. “We’ve had a chance to talk with parents and kids who’ve been bullied, and sometimes being able to share an experience like this with a loved one, actually talk about how you feel, and share the experience of what Ash is going through in the game is really important.