Kona, the snowy supernatural mystery set in Canada's north, is coming in March

YouTube

As a Canadian, I am contractually obligated to like Kona, the snowy supernatural mystery that debuted on Steam Early Access in March of last year. Fortunately, I actually do think it looks potentially quite good, or at least very interesting, and I'm really looking forward to giving it a proper go when it launches in full on, as developer Parabole revealed today, March 17.

The trailer that came along with the announcement may be the most purely Canadian game promo I've ever seen. A Korean war vet named Carl sits in his pickup truck, having a smoke and listening to French folk music while a CN train rolls by. Then some dumbass who forgets that you're supposed to slow down in bad weather—slow down, dumbass!—runs him off the road.

Meanwhile, the guy who used to narrate all those National Film Board documentaries you had to watch back in public school explains that things "got pretty rough," which is Canadianese for "he's being hunted by a Wendigo and has nothing to fight back with but an old hunting gun and a lantern, but ehh, it could be worse."

All kidding aside (although I'm not really kidding), Kona is a game I have very high hopes for. It's a deep north supernatural mystery set in 1970, which begins simply enough—Carl sets out to investigate complaints of vandalism at a wealthy industrialist's hunting lodge—but then veers off into a "perplexing quietness" that's gripped an entire, tiny town. Parabole said Kona is the first of four games that collectively will tell "a chilly, narrative-driven interactive tale you won't soon forget."

Kona is available on Steam as an Early Access game for $18/£14/18, and also through GOG's "In Development" lineup. Parabole also released a trio of new screens you can lay eyes on below.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.