With its serene soundtrack, simple gameplay, and great art direction, students from the DigiPen Institute of Technology have done it again with Dreamside Maroon. Your task, in this quick and simple indie game, is to ride and manipulate a vine to the moon. There’s no reason for it, but the story itself doesn’t hold you back from your objective.

　　You begin on a small floating island and on the tip of a vine. In front of you are high sets of islands and your future destination, the moon. Controlling the vine is easy because you can shape its design on the fly with your keyboard or Xbox 360 controller. Along the way, you illuminate torches to unlock fireflies that change the color of your vine and haikus, which at the end of your journey form one big poem.

　　The art direction is beautifully displayed in a watercolor palette. The overall game is dimly lit, but when you illuminate torches the light accentuates all the colors to give them an amazing glow. Manipulating the vine helps you create moving art.

　　When the 2010 IGF competition rolls around, we’ll be sure to look for a final build and get an in-depth look in Dreamside Maroon.