Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure — Everything We Know

In what universe does a sliding tile game also play as an adventure game? The indie world, of course. This year, indie bangers are dropping nonstop, whether it's announcements for upcoming games or debuts for the final product. Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure is the latest of the bunch that dares to defy the norm. Shall we see what the development team has in store for us? Here’s everything we know about the upcoming Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure game.

What is Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure?

Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure is an upcoming role-puzzler, ha! As co-founder of Furniture & Mattress and writer of Carto explains, the game merges the world of dungeon-crawling RPGs with puzzle solving. So, the usual exploration of towns and nature you’ll expect in RPGs is here. 

The same goes for meeting exciting characters and battling formidable monsters. The twist, though, is instead of an open-world sandbox, Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure takes place on a grid in the form of a puzzle game, hence role-puzzling. 

Story

The upcoming game will follow protagonist Jemma as she moves around on a ‘sprawling, interconnected gameplay grid.’ She lives in a small town and goes on an adventure of self-discovery. And while venturing out into the unknown takes her out of her comfort zone, she soon runs into formidable monsters and an ‘immovable force’ called static. 

“Can she disrupt a culture of stagnation, and find a place to fit into it?” reads the official story description.

The whole game takes place on a grid, interconnected by moving rows and columns. As Jemma moves, so do the grid rows and columns. As a result, you’ll discover exciting secrets and intricate puzzles to solve. Above all, Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure’s aim is to be a fun, explorative game for every gamer.

Gameplay

While a grid game seems relatively monochromatic and dull, Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure has taken the extra step to include variety. You’ll move from row to row and column to column, unlocking a full-blown world packed with quirky characters and chaos. The gameplay interlocks movement, exploration, and combat to create an all-around RPG experience on a grid.

It’ll take roughly eight to ten hours to complete the game via a single-player mode. Fortunately, you’ll also keep busy with head-scratching puzzles infused with gameplay, though you’ll have the option to skip the puzzles if you don’t feel like solving them. 

Unlike most RPGs, Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure won’t have XP points to gain and upgrade or new abilities for character progression. Instead, you’ll constantly run into a ‘a regular stream of new ways to test your understanding of the mechanics.’ 

You won’t have inventory to manage, either. So, if you need a key to open a locked door, for instance, you have to physically move across the rows and columns, dragging it with you through ‘twisty paths and past unexpected obstacles.’ Check out a more in-depth overview of the features to expect via Nintendo below:

Features:

• Unique, interconnected gameplay ‘grid’ that snappily unites movement, combat, and exploration.
• A story-driven adventure about a small-town misfit on a journey of self-discovery.
• A breezy RPG without XP or inventory to manage, where everything is handled in-world.
• 8-10 hour campaign, with various assist options, so that you’re only as challenged as you want to be.
• The debut game from an all-star development team featuring the artist behind Braid.

Development

Developer Furniture & Mattress LLC is currently working on Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure. This will be their debut game, so definitely a lot of pressure to deliver beyond expectations. Perhaps Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure’s most significant source of excitement comes from the developing team. 

Advertised as a game from a team of indie all-stars, you may spot striking art similarities to puzzle-platformer Braid, whose artist, David Hellman, is now the co-founder and lead artist of the upcoming game. He’s working with a team of talented artists ‘to create something visually striking and unique.’

The other two co-founders, Nick Suttner and Nico Recabarren, are also known for fan-favorite works in their respective fields. Suttner is the writer behind Carto while Recabarren is known for designing Ethereal. Together with composer Tomas Batista, known for Per Aspera, they’re working together in a small team to craft something fun and special.

According to Nick Suttner, talks about the project began as early as March 10, 2020. Here’s what he had to say about the development journey:

“We’ve done the best we can to stay positive in a challenging environment in which to make games and to create something beautiful, breezy, and memorable that stays true to each of our sensibilities. While we’ve all been in games for a while, this was a milestone project for all of us – my first time working on a game from start to finish, Nico’s first time shipping a full-scope game across multiple platforms, and David’s first full game project since Braid. Thanks to anyone who gives it a shot, it means a lot to us!”

Trailer

At this point, you’re probably confused about what Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure actually looks like. Fortunately, we already have a trailer out now that draws a clearer picture of what to expect. It features a folk spring sound and a charming art style that quickly grabs your attention. In essence, each time you move across a row, the entire row moves with you. 

Release Date, Platforms, & Editions 

Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure is planned to launch in the summer of 2024. It’ll be released on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Mac, and PC platforms via Steam and the Epic Games Store. It’ll also launch on Netflix Games via mobile. 

As for editions, we aren’t quite sure yet. But do keep an eye out for future updates via the official social handle here. Meanwhile, we’ll also let you know of any new information as soon as they come up.

So, what’s your take? Will you be grabbing a copy of Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure when it drops? Let us know over on our socials here.