Like Knytt? Play this: Nifflas releases his Great Work for free

Knytt developer Nicklas 'Nifflas' Nygren has released his latest game, and for free. The Great Work has a lot in common with his recent Knytt Underground , set as it is in a network of shadowy caves, but once you delve in there are a number of subtle differences, which may feel unfamiliar to fans of Nifflas' previous work. Interestingly, the game was developed for a documentary entitled Alkemistens År , which is "about Christer Böke who has taken one year off from his well-paid job as an IT-salesman to become a full-time Alchemist." Blimey.

In the game, you play as the apprentice to the great alchemist Fulcanelli , who as it happens has just created the Philosopher's Stone. He sends you off to alchemise up some gold, which as it turns out involves a lot of platforming and ingredient collection. The major difference from the Knytt games is the new inventory system, which replaces permanent abilities, letting you turn (for example) sticky gloves or high-jumping on or off. You'll also scrounge for and trade various ingredients and items with the strange residents of this subterranean locale.

Nicklas puts the length of The Great Work at around 1-2 hours, although he's stated to IndieGames that "it's however very easy to make additional levels for it and I hope this will take off." He's also released the game's source code, which is sure to be a fascinating document to poke around in, if you're interested in game development (and if you have a copy of Multimedia Fusion 2).

Once again, you can grab The Great Work here . Here's an alchemically correct trailer:

Tom loves exploring in games, whether it’s going the wrong way in a platformer or burgling an apartment in Deus Ex. His favourite game worlds—Stalker, Dark Souls, Thief—have an atmosphere you could wallop with a blackjack. He enjoys horror, adventure, puzzle games and RPGs, and played the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII with a translated script he printed off from the internet. Tom has been writing about free games for PC Gamer since 2012. If he were packing for a desert island, he’d take his giant Columbo boxset and a laptop stuffed with PuzzleScript games.