Out of all the games presented at Sony's latest PlayStation Showcase, Tchia was perhaps the most surprising inclusion, and yet it felt totally at home among the AAA titles that were there. Tchia is an upcoming indie open-world adventure game where players control the titular hero Tchia. She has a power called Soul Jumping which allows her to possess animals and objects temporarily, and that power sets her off on a quest throughout the archipelago where she lives. Tchia's developer Awaceb heavily bases Tchia's homeland on the studio's own homeland, New Caledonia, incorporating all kinds of cultural and geographical aspects of the island.
For those who aren't familiar with New Caledonia, it's an archipelago northeast of Australia whose population stems from a diverse range of backgrounds, from the indigenous Kanaks to descendants of Europeans to various Southeast Asian peoples. Tchia doesn't take place in New Caledonia itself. Rather, it's a fictional archipelago of Awaceb's creation that incorporates many aspects of New Caledonia, from culture to wildlife. Just about every element of this indie PlayStation title touches on the real-life archipelago in some way, bringing New Caledonia to life for an international audience. The result is a colorful and rich game that uniquely celebrates real-life culture.
Tchia's Incorporation of New Caledonia
There are lots of basic aspects of Tchia that reflect New Caledonia. For instance, the fictional archipelago in the game heavily reflects the real archipelago's actual geography. Some images revealed by Awaceb show that certain islands within Tchia are heavily based on real islands from the New Caledonian area. What's more, a lot of the animals that Tchia players will encounter are based on real fauna from the region, as another screenshot comparing an animated coconut crab to a real coconut crab shows. Photorealistic games like Horizon Zero Dawn have emulated the real world this way before, but Tchia's colorful fictionalization represents an interesting alternative approach.
Tchia's characters are also an important part of Awaceb's means of representing New Caledonia. The studio says that the game will be filled with characters inspired by all kinds of cultures that can be found on the real archipelago. Tchia's trailers suggest that it'll be a very character-heavy game, based on the number of people that Tchia interacts with, even as Tchia sails freely around her homeland. It should be interesting to see how Tchia's broad range of characters come together to represent the diverse population of the real New Caledonia.
There's another major aspect of Tchia that brings New Caledonian culture to life: language. Dozens of unique languages are native to New Caledonia, and Awaceb has incorporated many traditional languages into Tchia. Rather than characters speaking in the language of the player's choice, Tchia offers subtitles in various languages while voice actors speak in real New Caledonian languages. Beyond dialogue, Tchia's music also represents New Caledonia through audio; Awaceb is collaborating with Kanak artists to produce the game's soundtrack. Music and dialogue incorporating the archipelago's culture are both brilliant ways to give players the unique opportunity to not just see the islands but to hear them too.
Tchia Should Encourage Other Indie Developers
Awaceb's decision to base Tchia on New Caledonia so heavily is inspirational. Plenty of indie games from Hollow Knight to Hades push mechanical and artistic boundaries, but not every indie game pushes so hard to depict underrepresented cultures. Considering how positive the response to Tchia has been, hopefully, there are some other indie developers out there who are interested in developing a game like Tchia that brings someone's homeland to life in a vibrant, interactive way. Tchia could very well be the first game in a long line of indie titles that depict, preserve, and celebrate underappreciated corners of the real world in unique ways. Only time will tell for now.
Tchia releases in 2022 for PC, PS4, and PS5.