The development team behind one of my favorite Xbox One games, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, is at it again. Fresh off a great console debut, the company’s now working on Project Totem, a co-op puzzle platformer that will release exclusively on Xbox One.
Project Totem is a playful platforming game in which cooperative players control two totem pole heads with a single controller. According to the game’s creators, the concept came from brothers Asger Strandby (Game Director) and Bo Strandby (Lead Designer), who wanted to put a distinctive spin on the platforming genre.
Considering the brotherly dynamic in Max: The Curse of Brotherhood (shown above), it’s only appropriate that Project Totem spawned from a couple of brothers’ crazy drinking game.
Not really. But the two brothers definitely conceived of it themselves.
On top of Project Totem single-player campaign, the game offers a same-screen multiplayer mode in which two players must work closely together to succeed.
The cooperative elements can’t be understated. In the single-player mode, gamers control two separate heads to a Totem pole that can also be stacked on top of one another and move as a cohesive unit. Move left, and they both move left. Move right, and they both move right. Jump up, and if they’re combined/conjoined you’ll do a double jump.
Different fields also present obstacles or openings based on their color, much like the colored switches in the electrical circuit minigames in Skylanders Swap Force.
Project Totem is scheduled to release this fall on both Xbox One and Xbox 360. I, for one, will be among the first in line to grab it, as I loved the studio’s debut Xbox One appearance (Max: The Curse of Brotherhood).
