Project Introduction

At its core, Sleep Swimmer is about dealing with overstimulation. The player character, Aria, is a Gen-Z girl who is consumed by anxiety due to being overstimulated by the over-connectivity of the modern world. In her dreams she swims around an underwater town called SalamanderVille, where she meets salamanders who are having a similar problem: There's a new sound in town that pollutes the audio-sphere of their marine world, overwhelming everyone in town. When the sound stops for the night everyone is relieved, but the mystery remains: where is this awful sound coming from and why is it here?

Gameplay revolves around exploring the town and surrounding areas, interacting with unique characters, making music with the DJ mixing mechanics, and uncovering the story of Aria and the salamanders. Players swim around this lush, vibrant aquatic world and collect sounds, mix them on their DJ set, and make friends with the salamander townsfolk.

The DJ mechanic involves a UI DJ panel that mimics a simplified mixing deck in order to make an accessible music making tool for people that aren't necessarily skilled or knowledgeable in music making. This mechanic gives the player a sense of mastery as they collect sounds then mix them together within the DJ system.

About Developer

I'm Julia, the solo dev on Sleep Swimmer! I made the demo of this game for the final year of my M.A. in Games Design and Development. Now that I've graduated I am looking to build a small indie studio and release Sleep Swimmer as my first game. In January, the game won an honourable mention at PGC's Big Indie Pitch London! The studio I am starting, Beyond Tomorrow Studios, will focus on making charming cosy adventure games like Sleep Swimmer.