For immediate release on Feb. 19th, 2025 - Steam - Trailer - Itch.io - Social Media
Buenos Aires, Argentina – February 19th, 2025: Argentine indie game co-op and dev studio Matajuegos announced today that Atuel, their award-winning surrealist documentary game about climate change in western Argentina, will be released on Steam and Google Play later in 2025.
Atuel was originally released on itch.io on September 14th, 2022, and received praise from critics and other indie developers for its innovative fusion of documentary interviews, experimental gameplay, and dreamlike visuals. The game won IndieCade 2022’s “Innovation in Experience Design Award” and has been exhibited at independent game festivals, art galleries, museums, and documentary festivals all over the world, including the Marché du Film at Cannes and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C.
Atuel was developed in collaboration with a team of international documentary filmmakers, The 12.01 Project, and features real-life testimonies and beautiful, dreamlike landscapes inspired by the topography of the Cuyo desert in Argentina. The game is free to play, and its release on Steam and Google Play will include localization into 7 new languages and full controller support. These new features will also be brought to itch.io via an update.
“We wanted Atuel to feel like a dream. It’s a documentary that puts photorealism aside in order to engage with history and emotion in a more playful way,” says Santiago Franzani, Atuel’s lead artist and developer. “The game brings together testimonies and historical perspectives to form a kaleidoscope narrative that highlights the interconnections of life and the intimacy of our relationship with the land we live on.”
In Atuel you explore stunning, surrealist vistas and shapeshift into different animals and elements of the region’s ecosystem, at times even becoming the Atuel river itself. While exploring, you can listen to real-life testimonies by specialists and locals who talk about the region’s past, present, and future. These interconnected perspectives weave together to tell a historic narrative about people’s intimate relationship to the land they live on and the effects of the global climate crisis.
Atuel is available to wishlist on Steam today!
Features
- A beautiful audiovisual experience focused on contemplative exploration.
- Shapeshift into different animals and elements of Atuel’s ecosystem.
- Stunning surrealist landscapes based on the real-world topography of the Cuyo desert.
- Real-life testimonies by historians, biologists, geologists, and more.
- A historic narrative woven together from many different, interconnected perspectives.
- An atmospheric, ambient soundtrack produced by musicians Makunouchi Bento.
- An impactful half-hour game spoken in Spanish and subtitled in 9 languages.
Praise
“A climate crisis documentary in the form of a third person walking sim where you play as a river. A high concept with a high execution.” - Robert Yang
“...Not one person's voice, but a collection of voices describing the Rio Atuel in Argentina. You steer a drop of water, or a rush of it, or a bird or fish, as scientists and inhabitants describe their perspectives of the river. A small project but a really lovely, evocative presentation.” - Andrew Plotkin
“Combines geography, documentary, science, history, and beautiful visuals into a singular and sublime experience.” - James Coltrain
Submerge yourself in Atuel’s waters and become one with the river when it arrives on Steam and Google Play later this year .
Helpful Links: Steam - Trailer - Press Kit - Itch.io - Social Media
Contact: For questions, enquiries, interview requests, or a review build of Atuel, please write to us at matajuegos.coop@gmail.com.
About Matajuegos
Matajuegos is an indie game co-op and development studio located in Argentina. It was founded in 2016 with the goal of creating and thinking about games from social, political, and cultural perspectives that are informed by its Latin-American context. Alongside game development, they have also dedicated themselves to creating Spanish-language game criticism in the form of articles, translations, interviews, podcasts, and videos.
You can read more about Matajuegos in this excellent interview published by ROMchip, play their other games on their itch.io page, read their game crit work on their webpage, and follow them on social media.
About the Documentary Team
Atuel was created in collaboration with The 12.01 Project, an international team of documentary filmmakers dedicated to telling stories about environmental conservation. Atuel, the video game, is a sister project and loose, oneiric reenvisioning of their own film documentary of the same name. All interviews featured in the game as well as some environmental Foley were recorded by The 12.01 Project and edited by Matajuegos.
You can read more about The 12.01 Project on their webpage and view the trailer for their film documentary Atuel on YouTube