Have you ever immediately wishlisted a game on Steam based on aesthetics alone? I ask because that’s just happened to me with All Living Things, a stop-motion game inspired by The Ripley Scroll, a 15th-century alchemical manuscript. Doesn’t that just seem like a guaranteed feast for the eyes? Developer MOXO self-describes it as an “animated art-book puzzle game”, which feels perfectly apt for it. The general presentation is simple, this strange, alluring art book on a black background waiting for you to click around.
There’s apparently 12 puzzles to solve in total, “each reflecting a stage in the alchemical process.” You have to select certain parts of the art book to set certain sequences in motion, resulting in some wonderfully tactile looking animations. The wild thing is that despite looking like real, hand-made claymation, it’s all been digitally sculpted. You could have fooled me quite easily into believing otherwise if I hadn’t confirmed it for myself.
Discover the secrets of alchemical processes, the hidden secrets of world and even deeper secrets hidden within usβ¦
All Living Things has a steampage, wishlist to be notified for the upcoming early demo!https://t.co/A68GqHk0o2 pic.twitter.com/D3xJDSLRI2
β πππππ πππππππ (@stvulture) May 22, 2025
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I’m not entirely sure how the puzzles work, the Steam page for the game is suitably vague and cryptic, hinting at how you’ll be able to figure it all out but not quite laying things in front of you. There’s no release date for the game just yet, not even a release window. That’s ok with me, as a demo is due out June 10th, meaning it won’t be long before I can try and suss out what exactly this strange artbook game wants from me.
The thing that appeals most of all to me, outside of its aesthetic sensibilities, is that it’s quite plain about there only being 12 puzzles. It really sounds like a game you could just spend your evenings ticking away at, figuring them all out in small doses, with the end quite close in sight. Love a game that knows when to stop, will definitely be checking this one out.