A strange underworld of disco beats and quirky characters, Everhood is an adventure-story game with a heavy emphasis on music. The odd project is put together by only two developers – artist Chris Nordgren and programmer Jordi Roca. They describe the game as “an ineffable tale of the inexpressible divine moments of truth”, which may be the only way to define it. Everhood is a unique experience that is hard to describe, but what it holds is so memorable it may be a cult classic.

Development on Everhood started in 2018 and a vertical slice of the first 20 minutes has been available since. With all its influences on its sleeves, it’s clear why this strange adventure has generated and held such a cult following for the last three years – now, it comes to full fruition.

The story follows a wooden doll named Red, waking up in mysterious woods with no memory or backstory. Gold Pig, a tyrant who reigns over this vague world, steals one of Red’s arms with the help of Blue Thief the gnome… who then has their legs stolen and joins Red’s quest to retrieve their limbs. Red encounters a range of peculiar characters along the escapade, like Noseferatchu, Flan, Muck, and the wise Banjo Frog. Throughout the journey, an omnipresent voice and unexplainable occurrences hint at something darker behind the existence of this world.

The main goal is to survive until the track ends with the occasional curve thrown-in. One stage involves moving back and forth on a minecart to progress and another pits Red against two enemies at once, switching back and forth between two distinct types of music and patterns to dodge. There is also a side-mission which is basically F-Zero. While not being entirely crucial to the story, it is a fun change of pace. The music battles have so much variety even though they are a completely original idea for this game type.

Eventually, Red learns a reflect attack which adds another layer to these music-based combat pieces. It raises the difficulty by relying on good timing but making yourself vulnerable, requiring players to move much more and play offensively to win. It nearly removes the option to stay in one lane and defeat enemies effortlessly. Although, this mechanic isn’t available until very far into Everhood’s adventure and is sorely missed in the first part of the game.

In between these sections, Red explores undescribed locations and interacts with unusual characters. There are optional objectives, like searching for items to help other habitants of this strange universe or finding seven different mushroom friends in a forest. The environments Red travels through aren’t detailed or exciting, but that’s part of the style of Everhood. Darkness is a backdrop to the pixel-art, and with such puzzling subtext, everything resonates surreal isolation.

There are many psychedelic and indescribable moments that add to the spectacular journey and make you question what is going on in this story. The game draws heavily from the art and tone of twisted tales like Undertale. A magic eight ball constantly tells you to “agree to abandon your humanity, accept immortality”. What does this mean? Is that why Red is a wooden doll? Has Red done something to become immortal? Something inhumane? There is already a cult community debating the meaning of this game. It hits all those baffling narrative beats and digs deep into your soul until the only goal is to see it out to the end.