Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna) is an action platform game with puzzle elements. It is developed in collaboration with the Iñupiat, the Alaskan Native people and the game’s story is based on a local tale called Kunuuksaayuka. There is an optional educational element to the game as 24 cultural insights videos are unlocked by locating owls in the game. These videos contains interviews and provide information about the local culture, geography and history. The player controls the Iñupiat girl Nuna together with an arctic fox as they search out the source of an eternal blizzard that threatens their town. The girl meets the fox early on and a villain also appears soon. The game can be played cooperatively locally with two players each controlling a character. When playing alone it is possible to switch between the two characters at any time with the AI taking over for the other one, except for puzzle sequences where cooperation is required.
Nuna is controlled with typical platform gameplay such as walking around, jumping, climbing ledges etc. The fox is able to do that as well, but they each have different abilities. The girl is the only one who can push or pull objects, mainly cages. Early on she acquires Bola, a type of magic that allows her to interact with certain parts of the environment to remove obstacles. The bola is charged and can then be swung in any direction. The bola is also used against certain creatures and can turn floating, white particles into magic platforms. The fox is more agile; he can jump higher, scramble up walls and do a series of wall jumps to get to a higher part. Later in the game the fox can also fly and use an ability to guide the magic platforms and interact with the environment. Nuna can climb ladders and uses ropes to swing. To solve the environment based puzzles cooperation between the two characters is often required.
Gameplay elements include chase sequences and the blizzard’s wind also plays an important role. The characters need to brace themselves to prevent from being pushed back. The wind is also used to solve puzzles. A strong gust provides the force needed to cross large gaps and this often needs to be used. Between chapters the story is told through cut-scene sequences and narrated by a storyteller in the spoken Iñupiaq language. Regular checkpoints are used and when one of the two characters dies, the game automatically restarts at the latest checkpoint.
