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Sky (video game)

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Sky: Children of the Light
Official poster for the game, featuring two characters holding hands underneath the game's title
Official poster
Developer(s)Thatgamecompany
Publisher(s)Thatgamecompany
Director(s)Jenova Chen
Artist(s)Yui Tanabe (Manager)
Jacky Ke Jiang (Director)
Writer(s)Jennie Kong
Composer(s)Vincent Diamante
EnginePhyreEngine
Platform(s)
ReleaseiOS
July 18, 2019
Android
April 7, 2020
Nintendo Switch
June 29, 2021
PlayStation
December 2022
Genre(s)Adventure, art game
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Sky: Children of the Light (Chinese: Sky光·遇; pinyin: Sky Guāng·yù) (shortened to Sky in-game) is an open world social indie adventure game developed and published by Thatgamecompany. It was first released for iOS on July 18, 2019.[1] An Android version was later released on April 7, 2020,[2] and a Nintendo Switch version was released on June 29, 2021.[3][4][5][6] A beta version was available before release, which was used by players to give feedback on fixes for the main game. In August 2022, Thatgamecompany announced that the game would be coming to unspecified PlayStation platforms, and in September 2022, it was announced that the game would be released on PlayStation platforms in December 2022.[7][8]

Gameplay

In Sky, players explore a once-prosperous kingdom using a cape that allows them to fly. The in-game world consists of seven unique realms, each with a variety of areas to explore, and a theme representing different stages of life. There is also Home, a small island which serves as the world hub and the starting point for the player. Throughout the world, players encounter "spirits" that allow them to unlock items in return for in-game currency, and "children of light" that give players "winged light." When a player has collected enough winged light, their cape level goes up, allowing them to fly farther.

The game places heavy focus on social mechanics. Players are able to meet and befriend one another, and can unlock new abilities such as chat and sending gifts as their friendship grows. There are also many cosmetic items to collect including capes, masks, hairstyles, hats, pants, playable musical instruments, expressions, and more. These items can be obtained using in-game currency or, in some cases, purchased with real life money. Some cosmetics are only available to select players, such as the original beta cape, only available to those who played the beta version prior to the full release of the game.

Sky has multiple in-game currencies. "Candles" are the main currency of Sky, and are exchanged with spirits and friends in return for items and abilities. Candles are obtained by collecting pieces of light (called wax in game) and forging them, or by purchasing them for real money. "Hearts" are the social currency of Sky, and are obtained when players receive gifts from others, or can be bought directly from spirits with candles. Hearts are primarily used to purchase cosmetic items from spirits. "Ascended candles" are the rarest currency in Sky, which are rewarded to players for giving their winged light to "The fallen" at the end of the game. Ascended candles are exchanged with spirits for "wing buffs," which give players extra Winged Light, or can be used to upgrade friendship and purchase various spells such as height alteration and cape recharge.

Realms

The setting consists of seven unique realms, in addition to Home, the starting point of the game.

Home

Home is where any newcomers will begin the game, as well as being a central hub for the rest of the game. One of the key features of Home is the ability to use doorways known as "portals" to select a stage to arrive in. The portals start out dormant, each one activating linearly. After enough progress is made, the levels becomes more open-ended, allowing access to the different realms regardless of the initial order. The only exception to this rule is the Eye of Eden, which, alongside the requirement of the other six realms being played through, can't be entered until twenty winged lights are collected. When players walk into a portal, it automatically transports them to the beginning of the corresponding area, regardless of previous progress. There is a small circle dubbed the Return Shrine, which will send the player to the realm they were last in.

Home also contains the constellation table. Any spirits that are saved in the other realms are displayed in their realm's constellation. When the constellation of a spirit is selected, hearts and candles can be spent to unlock new items. These include spells, leveled-up expressions, and customization options. Another feature of the Constellation Table is the Friend Constellations, for viewing other players that were added to the friend list, allowing the players to give and receive gifts, and joining servers to play together.

Other features of Home include closet space to change cosmetics, a clock to keep track of the game time, and a boat called the Sleepy Traveling Merchant's Boat, occasionally arriving to give the player free spells and sell season exclusive items.

At the starting point of each realm there is a small hub with another constellation table, closets, and a portal to return Home.

Seasons and events

Sky features ongoing seasonal events, with new storylines and unique spirits and items. Seasonal events are completely free-to-play, but some of the spirits' items require a paid "Adventure Pass" to unlock. The seasons have a unique currency called "seasonal candles," which can be used to purchase seasonal items and are converted to regular candles when the season ends. Seasonal spirits may return as "Traveling Spirits" in the future, which players can give their candles and hearts to receive seasonal items for a limited time, albeit at a higher price.

  • The Season of Gratitude began on July 19, 2019, and ended on September 2, 2019. It was the first season of the full game. It was mostly a repeat of the beta version of the same event, with minor changes.
  • The Season of Lightseekers began on September 23, 2019, and ended on November 10, 2019.
  • The Season of Belonging began on November 18, 2019, and ended on January 12, 2020. It centered around a family of six spirits trying to find their way home.
  • The Season of Rhythm began Friday, January 24, 2020, and ended on April 5, 2020. It brought revamped Spirits and Cosmetics, as well as some new collectibles, and Traveling Spirits were introduced to the game.
  • The Season of Enchantment began on Monday, April 20, 2020, and ended on June 21, 2020. It introduced a new area, in which all of the seasonal content and quests could be found (which became standard for all preceding seasons), added a shop where players can purchase spells.
  • The Season of Sanctuary began Monday, July 13, 2020, and ended on September 21, 2020. It added a summer-vacation-themed area. The start of the season was also marked by Sky's One Year Anniversary celebrations.
  • The Season of Prophecy began on Monday, October 5, 2020, and ended on December 13, 2020. It introduced the Cave of Prophecies area. It also added new challenges called "trials,"[9]
  • The Season of Dreams began on January 4, 2021, and ended on March 15, 2021. It introduced two new areas, and followed the journey of a young skater who dreams of performing in the Coliseum.[10]
  • The Season of Assembly began on April 5, 2021, and ended on June 13, 2021. It added a feature in which players can decorate their own spaces.[11] The season followed a group of children as they seek to build a treehouse together.
  • The Season of The Little Prince began on July 6, 2021, and ended on September 19, 2021. It is Sky's first collaborative season, and a re-telling of the classic novella, The Little Prince, in which players can interact with the book's characters, in celebration of its 75th anniversary.[12]
  • The Season of Flight began on October 4, 2021, and ended on December 19, 2021. It adds a new area that connects to all previous seasonal areas.
  • The Season of Abyss began on January 17, 2022, and ended on March 27, 2022. It introduced a swimming mechanism, and an underwater location.
  • The Season of Performance began on April 11, 2022, and ended on June 26, 2022. It added a stage location where players can customize background, lighting, and effects, and introduced the "shared memories" feature, where players can make a video-like message for other players to watch.
  • The Season of Shattering began on July 11, 2022 and ended on September 25, 2022. This season adopts a new format, taking place in almost all realms and with it, eruptions that threaten the kingdom with Darkness.
  • The Season of AURORA began on October 17, 2022 and is set to end on January 2, 2023. It is Sky's second collaborative season, collaborating with Norwegian singer Aurora. The players relive memories of Spirits and events of the past, with Aurora's music playing during quests.[13]

Music

Sky features an orchestral score composed by Vincent Diamante, with some tracks performed by FAME'S Macedonian Symphonic Orchestra.[14][15] Norwegian singer Aurora also provides the vocals for the game's intro and outro songs.[16]

Three volumes of soundtrack albums have been released. The first volume covers more recognizable music from the base game cycle.[17] The second volume contains mostly ambient background music, and the third includes various pieces composed for Sky's Seasonal Events.[18]

Charity

In 2020, Thatgamecompany held some in-game events in support of charity. First was the "Days of Nature" event, in celebration of Earth Day, during which a unique IAP (in-app purchase) was available. Proceeds from each purchase of the IAP were used to plant one tree per purchase, in partnership with the OneTreePlanted charity. This event resulted in a total of 40,576 trees planted across the Amazonian and Australian forests damaged by wildfires.[19] In April 2021, Sky hosted its second "Days of Nature" event, using the game to promoting awareness towards plastic pollution of the ocean.[20]

In May 2020, Thatgamecompany hosted a "Days of Healing" event to help raise money for the Médecins Sans Frontières organization,[21] leading Thatgamecompany to donate $719,138 to the MSF COVID-19 Crisis Fund.[22] For the event, Thatgamecompany also joined the World Health Organization's #PlayApartTogether campaign.[21]

In June 2020, Sky held its first "Days of Rainbow" event, featuring colorful rainbow items and spells as a way to celebrate pride month. The second "Days of Rainbow" event the following year gathered funds for The Trevor Project and the Global Fund for Women, with players raising $794,420 in total.[23]

Reception

Review aggregator Metacritic awarded the game an 82 out of 100 based on 18 reviewers, as well as awarding it the number one shared iOS game of 2019, number three most discussed iOS game of 2019, and number 13 best iOS game of 2019.[32]

Game Informer scored the game a 8.5 out of 10 stating "Sky is a refreshingly moving and robust game on the iOS platform, and one best shared with others – especially folks who might not normally pick up a video game."[24] GameSpot scored the game a 8 out of 10, giving exceptional praise to the visuals, animations and musical scores, however admitting that "return visits to previous environments aren't nearly as captivating as your first trip."[25] IGN scored the game a 8.5 out of 10, likening the game to its predecessor as "a bigger and bolder follow-up that expands on what made Journey so great."[26] Destructoid, like many other reviewers praised how it's a game that "most everyone should experience", was however highly critical of the touch controls and the lack of control it gave of your character, going as far to suggest that "most everyone should wait for a console or PC release" to play the game.[33] Nintendo Life scored the Switch version 8 out of 10, sharing the same praise as other reviewers, though highlighting that the simplistic gameplay may not keep players engaged in the long term, and how the option to toggle the FPS from 60 to 30 is objectively worse and provides only minor improvements.[28]

Accolades

The game won Apple's iPhone game of the year for 2019.[34] On October 5, 2020, Gamasutra reported that the game had topped 50 million downloads worldwide.[35]

Year Award Category Result Ref
2019 2019 Golden Joystick Awards Mobile Game of the Year Nominated [36]
The Game Awards 2019 Best Mobile Game Nominated [37]
2020 New York Game Awards A-Train Award for Best Mobile Game Nominated [38]
Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards Game of the Year Nominated [39]
Best Audio/Visual Accomplishment Nominated
Pocket Gamer People's Choice Won
23rd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Portable Game of the Year Nominated [40]
NAVGTR Awards Game, Original Family Nominated [41]
Original Light Mix Score, New IP Nominated
Game Developers Choice Awards Best Mobile Game Nominated [42][43]
Audience Award Won
SXSW Gaming Awards Mobile Game of the Year Won [44]
18th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards Best Music for an Indie Game Nominated [45]
Best Sound Design in a Casual/Social Game Nominated
Best Music in a Casual Game Nominated
Best Original Song ("Constellation") Nominated
Webby Award Apps, Mobile, and Voice: Best Visual Design - Aesthetic Won [46]
Apple Design Awards Outstanding Design and Innovation Won [47]
International Mobile Gaming Awards Grand Prix Won [48]
Games for Change Awards Best Gameplay Won [49]
G4C People's Choice Award Won

Animated adaptation

On March 27, 2022, during AnimeJapan 2022, an animated project was announced.[50]

References

  1. ^ "Sky: Children of the Light Is Out Now!". thatgamecompany Official Blog. July 18, 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  2. ^ "Sky: Children of the Light Out on Google Play Now!". thatgamecompany Official Blog. April 7, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  3. ^ "Promising New Game Sky: Children Of The Light Prepares Its Nintendo Switch Debut With This Trailer – NintendoHill". nintendohill.com. June 22, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  4. ^ "Sky: Children of the Light's console release starts on Nintendo Switch". thatgamecompany Official Blog. March 17, 2020.
  5. ^ "Sky: Children Of Light On Switch Is The Latest Game Delayed By COVID-19". GameSpot. August 26, 2020.
  6. ^ "Sky: Children of the Light for Switch launches June 29". Gematsu. June 10, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  7. ^ "Sky Prepares to Come to PlayStation". August 16, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  8. ^ "Sky: Children of Light for PlayStation launches in December". September 14, 2022. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  9. ^ Williams, Hayley (October 6, 2020). "Sky: Children Of The Light Reveals a Challenging New Season". Gamespot. Gamespot. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  10. ^ "Explore the Secrets of Season of Dreams". Sky. thatgamecompany, Inc. March 9, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  11. ^ thatgamecompany (May 27, 2021). Developer Update: Shared Spaces (Video). YouTube. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  12. ^ "thatgamecompany's Sky: Children of The Light Launches First Crossover Seasonal Event Featuring Le Petit Prince". Gamasutra. Informa PLC Informa UK Limited. July 7, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  13. ^ "Gather in the Song of Season of AURORA". October 13, 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ "Sky: Children of the Light". FAMES. FAMES. 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  15. ^ Diamante, Vincent [@vincentdiamante] (August 1, 2020). "The game's soundtrack comes from many different places. Ten of the Vol. 1 tracks were recorded with FAME'S Macedonian Symphonic Orchestra, but other tracks were performed and recorded by me on my computer, often with some live instruments individually recorded" (Tweet). Retrieved September 11, 2021 – via Twitter.
  16. ^ Chan, Trevor (August 3, 2020). "Soundtrack to Sky: Children of the Light available now". Gaming Audio News. Wordpress. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  17. ^ Diamante, Vincent [@vincentdiamante] (August 2, 2020). "If you've been keeping track: yes, there are a LOT of game tracks that didn't make the leap from the game to this particular volume of soundtrack. Part of it is consistency of tone and arc of listening experience, so we omitted the more 'ambient' BGM that players come across" (Tweet). Retrieved September 11, 2021 – via Twitter.
  18. ^ "Sky Original Game Soundtrack Volumes 2 & 3 as Sky Celebrates Second Anniversary". Sky. thatgamecompany, Inc. July 14, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  19. ^ "UPDATE on 'Days of Healing' and 'Days of Nature' Events!". Sky. thatgamecompany, Inc. July 27, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  20. ^ "Launch Update: Days of Nature". Sky. thatgamecompany, Inc. April 15, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  21. ^ a b "Sky: Days of Healing Event". thatgamecompany. thatgamecompany, Inc. May 13, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  22. ^ "Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Update". Sky. thatgamecompany, Inc. April 13, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  23. ^ "Days of Rainbow 2021 Charity Update". Sky. thatgamecompany, Inc. July 5, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  24. ^ a b Miller, Matt. "Sky: Children Of The Light Review – The Next Logical Leap". Game Informer. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  25. ^ a b Barbosa, Alessandro. "Sky: Children Of The Light Review - Flying Free". GameSpot. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  26. ^ a b Jagneaux, David (July 20, 2019). "Sky: Children of the Light Review". IGN. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  27. ^ mrderiv (July 28, 2019). "Sky : Children of the Light est-il le digne successeur de Journey ?". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  28. ^ a b Reynolds, Ollie (July 3, 2021). "Review: Sky: Children of the Light - An Experience That Soars On Switch". Nintendo Life. Retrieved July 4, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  29. ^ Sullivan, Dann. "Sky: Children of the Light review - "Transcends the standards of the platformer genre"". Pocketgamer. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  30. ^ "Sky: Children of the Light for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  31. ^ "Sky: Children of the Light for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  32. ^ "Sky: Children of the Light for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  33. ^ "Review: Sky: Children of the Light". Destructoid. July 28, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  34. ^ "Apple celebrates the best apps and games of 2019". Apple Newsroom. December 2, 2019.
  35. ^ Kerr, Chris (October 5, 2020). "Sky: Children of the Light has topped 50 million installs worldwide". Gamasutra. Retrieved October 6, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  36. ^ "Golden Joystick Awards 2019". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on September 28, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  37. ^ Winslow, Jeremy (November 19, 2019). "The Game Awards 2019 Nominees Full List". GameSpot. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  38. ^ Sheehan, Gavin (January 2, 2020). "The New York Game Awards Announces 2020 Nominees". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  39. ^ "The winners of 2020". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  40. ^ Chalk, Andy (January 13, 2020). "Control and Death Stranding get 8 nominations each for the 2020 DICE Awards". PC Gamer. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  41. ^ "2019 Nominees". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. January 13, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  42. ^ Shanley, Patrick (January 8, 2020). "'Death Stranding' Leads Game Developers Choice Awards Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  43. ^ Makuch, Eddie (March 18, 2020). "Untitled Goose Game Wins Another Game Of The Year Award". GameSpot. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  44. ^ Watkins, Gary (March 24, 2020). "Announcing the 2020 SXSW Gaming Awards Winners". South by Southwest. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  45. ^ Wilson, Kelly (February 13, 2020). "Game Audio Network Guild Announces 18th Annual G.A.N.G. Award Nominees". The Hype Magazine. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  46. ^ "Webby Awards: Sky: Children of the Light". The Webby Awards. May 19, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  47. ^ "Apple honors eight developers with annual Apple Design Awards". Apple Newsroom. June 29, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  48. ^ Partleton, Kayleigh (August 3, 2020). "Call of Duty: Mobile takes home two accolades at International Mobile Gaming Awards". pocketgamer.biz. Retrieved July 1, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  49. ^ "G4C Awards". Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  50. ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (March 27, 2022). "thatgamecompany's Sky: Children of the Light Game Gets Animation Project". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
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