Darwin’s Paradox: Everything We Know

Darwin’s Paradox is unique in that your octopus character has exciting abilities like swimming and camouflage. It adds a stealth component to your platforming that can potentially make your playthrough more interesting. Also, how cute is the idea of a blue octopus sneaking their way around a suspicious food processing factory? More than your would-be hunters, there are other dangers to watch out for in the deadly industrial complex. Yet all your trials and tribulations will pay off when you become the last saving grace for humanity. While the game has just reached our airwaves, we’ve compiled everything we know so far about Darwin’s Paradox below.

What is Darwin’s Paradox?

Darwin’s Paradox is an upcoming action-adventure, story-based game. It lets you control Darwin, a young octopus that humans rudely pluck out of its home. You find yourself in an industrial complex about to become human food. But not if you have something to say about it. Using your wits and skills, you manage to escape. 

But the road ahead isn’t as straightforward, as far more dangers lie in wait. This quirky platformer is much an adventure as any. It features an octopus who’s not just adorable but also quite the clever creature. The industrial complex you’re trapped in is massive. 

However, the mysteries you discover along the way will push you to keep exploring. Even more so will the unique abilities you’ll unlock that will help you get past the dangers and traps that lie in wait. 

Story

Darwin’s Paradox is preparing to take you on an exciting adventure that Steam says is worth a “true animated movie.” Taking center stage is Darwin, a young octopus who’s as cute as he is clever. 

You’ve unfortunately been plucked out from the peacefulness of the great seas and thrown into a chaotic industrial complex about to become soul food. While you’re trapped in the UFOOD INC. facility, you manage to use your wits and skills to sneak out and escape. 

Gameplay

Darwin’s Paradox will be a single-player, captivating platformer and adventure game. Among Darwin’s out-of-the-box skills will be the ability to swim and camouflage. It comes in handy as you escape from your captors. 

Or try not to make a sound when they’re close by. But there are other “extraordinary intelligence and incredible abilities” you’ll unlock over the course of your playthrough. Using these abilities, you’ll be able to escape traps and face the dangers that come up in your escape route. 

Besides platforming, Darwin’s Paradox will also curate an exciting adventure as well as a puzzle-solving bit of gameplay. The adventure will add story moments such as Darwin’s “kidnapping” from the sea. 

Strange beams of light pierce through the ocean before humans suddenly pluck you out of your home. You wake up disoriented, dumped in a massive junkyard next to a food processing factory. 

While at the top of your mind is to escape and find your way back home, it doesn’t take too long to discover that more dangers are at play. There are dangerous machines to evade, holding tanks to avoid, and mysterious and deadly aliens roaming about the place. 

As much as escaping is your goal, you’ll find yourself invested in a conspiracy that plunges you into a new mission to save the world. There’s also a hint of combat where you can carefully time ink shots at enemies.  

Let’s look at the key features you can expect in the final game.

Key Features

• Story-based adventure: Darwin’s Paradox is not just a platformer; it will tell a rich story with engaging artistry and a vibrant, detailed world. Based on Steam, it’ll be humorous, emotional, suspenseful, and an all-around “memorable odyssey.”
• Platforming and puzzle-solving: Balancing between the two, you’ll switch between moments of swimming, hiding, infiltrating, and jumping abilities to evade enemies and dangerous situations and solve many puzzles the game will add to your adventure.
• Engaging world: Traverse levels that are vastly packed with puzzles, dangers, and wacky creatures.

Development

Developer ZDT Studio and publisher Konami will be bringing Darwin’s Paradox to market sometime soon. ZDT is made up of French developers. They say that their objective for developing the game is to make you truly feel what it’s like being an octopus.

Trailer

Check out the reveal trailer for Darwin’s Paradox, showcased at Sony’s State of Play livestream. It’s a pretty deep trailer, especially in the first look at the gameplay. While it may not be actual gameplay footage, the mini-size of the blue octopus hopping and sneaking about the industrial plant does paint the picture of some exciting puzzles and gameplay moments. 

There are way too many dangers and puzzles you’ll navigate, from spinning cogwheels to one-eye robot guards. At one point, you sneak past “very human but definitely not alien” planning world domination. And another, you’re dodging speeding cars on the highway. 

Darwin’s Paradox is definitely shaping up to feature some heart-pumping enemy chase sequences and creatures. A nasty crow tries to nab you for dinner as you try to speed away on your flabby tentacles. There’s so much content that this single reveal trailer shows that it makes you wonder just how vast and packed the final game will be.

Release Date, Platforms, & Editions

Although the announcement of Darwin’s Paradox’s development revealed the first trailer, it didn’t mention any release date to look forward to. The game’s PlayStation Blog mentions that it’ll be “coming to PS5 later this year.” 

In any case, we can only wait as ZDT Studio and Konami continue to work on the game and hopefully announce an exact release window soon. As for the platforms, you can expect the upcoming game to launch on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. 

However, the editions are unconfirmed at this time. In the meantime, you can always add Darwin’s Paradox to your PlayStation or Steam wishlist to get a notification as soon as it arrives. You can also follow the official social handle here to keep track of any new updates.