Colourblind, an adventure indie with color-driven puzzles from developer and publisher IcarusDev, has revealed a new gameplay trailer announcing a release date for September 4th, 2023.

In Colourblind, players will need to master an understanding of colors and machinery to solve a variety of puzzles in a colorless, post-apocalyptic world of dead robots.

Colourblind will be available on PC via Steam, and will also be free to play. You can watch today’s release date trailer on the IcarusDev YouTube channel:

While accessibility will surely be an issue, Colourblind plans on a FTP launch, and it has a creative premise with a gorgeous world. The environments seem expansive and fully realized. This setting also musters a lot of storytelling, which strikes intrigue for the central mystery.

The art design toys with geometry and perspective in very interesting ways, cleverly weaving in mechanical themes. Also, dramatic lighting is smartly used to distinguish areas without the traditional help of color, and there almost seems to be elements of cel shading.

Colourblind is also up front about some of its influences from Portal, as today’s trailer features a surprisingly blatant nod to the signature Companion Cubes. However, it’s clear that the puzzles and narrative will be inventive and quite distinct from that iconic puzzle hit. Certainly more so than The Entropy Centre, which was ultimately very successful, either way.

Rather than time manipulation, Colourblind has its own hook with some unique mechanics. Although the new footage concentrates on exploring the world and doesn’t show many puzzles, there are some compelling glimpses of how players can split colors apart.

It will be interesting to see just how far the puzzles are willing to escalate with something so potent. And although the music and colorless world feel somber, the Steam page mentions there will be “many funny and charming robot characters” across five chapters and five different locations.

Support LBR and artists by reading more of our Tabletop and Video Game posts!