The fluctuating scope of Inkle's games

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At first glance, A Highland Song is atypical of Inkle's style when it comes to the games it makes.

For a start, there's considerably less text, and there are more traditional gameplay mechanics, form the rock-climbing platforming at its core to the rhythm-action style sections. In fact, it's the first game Inkle has made that features a 'jump' button.

It's not quite what you'd expect from the studio that brought us 80 Days, the Sorcery series, or even the archaeological adventure Heaven's Vault. Yet co-founder Jon Ingold tells us the UK studio's titles always strive to explore the spectrum between gameplay and narrative, and A Highland Song is no different.

"People often describe us as a narrative-focused studio, and I get where that's coming from, but I always feel that's not quite right because there are lots of narrative games out there that are really just a story," he tells GamesIndustry.biz. "You're clicking through a story, maybe making some mild choices, but really you're just pushing forwards the whole time or solving puzzles to get forward in a linear way. And that's not a bad thing, that's just the way those games are designed, but that's something we very consciously don't do."

Ingold says that every Inkle title has something players can be skilled at, which helps to make the experience feel more interactive. The prime example is 80 Days; the resource management title dictates your funds and thereby governs which routes are open to you. Equally, choose too rough a route and Phileas Fogg's health deteriorates, which could result in him failing to complete his journey around the world. The gameplay affects the story and vice versa,