Big Stories on the Small Screen: indie video game The Bear turns into art in Shoreditch

Indie games studio Mucks! Games launches its debut title 'The Bear' on Android after a critically acclaimed run on IOS in 2024.

The Bear puts players in the shoes of ‘little one’, an adventurous creature who soon forms a connection with the title character, a giant bear. The unlikely duo begins a 45-minute adventure through space and time as they explore planets, stars and their friendship.

Told in five chapters, The Bear is a bedtime story for all ages, exploring themes of love, loss and companionship with great skill and emotion has been compared to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince and Annapurna Interactive’s Florence (2020).

“For us, The Bear is more than entertainment,” game creator and studio founder, Clara Deitmar said, “it’s a calming interactive experience. Each element of the game, from storytelling and art style to tactile interactions and puzzle solving evolves through the chapters to let players feel the emotion.”

The game opens with a muted and calm colour palette, with co-operative puzzles in tight-spaced caves. As the duo connect and understand one another, the environment shifts, until the pair are floating freely through space together or dancing between the stars.

The result is an adventure with an inverted difficulty curve providing a sense of freedom, wonder and beauty as players move through the chapters of the game’s dream-like world.

“The goal is for the player to feel more freedom, calm and positive emotion as the game progresses–for us, this is what makes a successful bedtime story for all ages.” Deitmar added.

Ahead of the launch and Blue Monday (20th January 2025) and to celebrate the wide release of the game a mural was painted that offered a pause from the dreary time of year, with a moment to stop and stare at something uplifting.

Found near Shoreditch High Street Station the artwork, painted by street artist Will Vibes lifts the core component of compassion and companionship.

Set against a night sky full of stars and constellations the protagonists state in accompanying text;

“On some dark days, when the sky feels heavy, and the sun is gone. I can find it difficult to be happy.” Said the Bear.

“Happiness is like a big connect the dots.” said The Little One.

If you want, we can put the dots up together”.

The constellations connecting the stars will illuminate at night and encourage passers-by to interact with the artwork by ‘stepping into’ the mural.

“The Bear” is the debut work of Clara Deitmar, Julius Dorsel and Luzie Kehle – alumni of the prestigious Animation Institute at Film Academy Baden-Württemberg in Germany whose famous alumni include creator of Ratatouille, the Oscar-winning British-Czech animator, director, and screenwriter Jan Pinkava.

“We’re honoured to have already received praise from award shows and audiences,”, founder Julius Dorsel said, “to have ‘The Bear’ recognised as a form of art and storytelling is highly important to us. We formed Mucks! Games to create titles that are beautiful, story-driven and have a social impact in the world at large.”