Impasto
A downloadable game for Windows
THE GAME
Impasto is a first-person horror adventure game inspired by the works and legacy of Francisco Goya, the revered yet tortured Spanish painter. Set within a world irreversibly altered by his fraying sanity, the player must use both stealth and wits to survive.
This is a student-made project created by undergraduate students at the University of Southern California in collaboration with students from Otis College of Art and Design, and California State University Fullerton, as well as volunteers from around the world. A full list of credits can be found in-game.
THE STORY
"To my dear Mariano..."
A mysterious letter of inheritance. A dark and foreboding manor. Grim and disturbing figures painted upon the very walls. A swirling canvas beckoning you to step closer, through the black ocean of paint into a world that's lost all reason.
Follow the path of Mariano Goya as he enters the dark and twisted Painted World of his grandfather, the famed and tortured artist Francisco Goya, in order to uncover his secret legacy. Plunge deep into the tragic fall of one of history's greatest artists and come face to face with his darkest creations brought to life.
Meet the distorted denizens who reside within the paint, navigate through the shadowed streets of a town brought to heel by the brutal inquisition, and explore the ancient ruins of a forgotten old god. You must evade the Painted World’s many dangers, solve its puzzles, and uncover its dark secrets, in a journey both to return home and to discover what could give birth to this land of nightmares.
ALSO AVAILABLE ON STEAM:
Status | Released |
Platforms | Windows |
Publisher | |
Rating | Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars (3 total ratings) |
Authors | alex tomkow, ani devoian, Randen Banuelos, AlanKarbachinsky, uuTuTu, Ian Mize, Cas, WesleyW, frankmashiro, guiyyu, Claire Swiatek, Shruti Bhat |
Genre | Adventure |
Made with | Blender, Adobe Photoshop, Unity, Paint Tool SAI, Substance Painter & designer, Maya, Adobe Illustrator |
Tags | Atmospheric, Dark Fantasy, First-Person, Horror, Immersive, Narrative, Painting, Singleplayer, Stealth, Surreal |
Average session | About an hour |
Languages | English |
Inputs | Keyboard, Mouse |
Accessibility | Subtitles |
Links | Steam, Twitter/X |
Download
Development log
- Patch v1.0.7 NotesJan 15, 2023
- Soundtrack Available Now!Dec 28, 2022
- Patch v1.0.6 NotesNov 30, 2022
- Patch v1.0.5 NotesNov 28, 2022
- Patch v1.0.4 NotesNov 16, 2022
- Patch v1.0.3 NotesNov 09, 2022
- Patch v1.0.2 NotesNov 08, 2022
- Patch v1.0.1 NotesNov 04, 2022
Comments
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Heya! The game is awesome, I made a project based on it :D https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_qaaKaevuKn7_YFeWdjJ1_0zv9k4se5J3cWW5RMv...
My teacher wondered if we could see the GDD or any other docs for it to study? It's ok if not!
Hi there, and I'm really sorry for the super-delayed response! Your project looks amazing, thank you so much for sharing, it made the team and I really happy to see that our project could inspire and be educational in that way! :)
Unfortunately, we are not able to release any production documentation directly at this time, but do stay tuned for some "making of" or "behind the scenes" posts and exhibitions that may be coming in the future!
Hi, I was wondering if there was any update on the "behind the scenes" of this game. I love the character models and the aesthetic that was done in this game. I specifically was curious about the models for the inquisitors. I understand if it's not done yet but I do look forward to it.
Beautiful game! Really love the concept and esthetic. But I kept stumbling on something strange...
After I inspected the priest(RIP), I should get the graveyard key right? But when I open the bag its still the house key and the graveyard key never showed up. Tried several times and still nothing so I'm kind of stuck there.
I dont know its a bug or anything, also the objective is confusing. What does the "puzzle" mean anyway?
Hey there! Glad you're enjoying the game so far. In regards to the trouble you've been having:
Hope that helps, and don't hesitate to let us know if there are any other issues you run into. :^)
Sorry I dont know how to insert my video so just pictures.
No worries, I can tell from the screenshots that something is wrong with the key. We'll make sure to look into and fix the issue in a future update!
Thanks!looking forward to the updated version
Love this so far! I changed the brightness and turned subtitles on and I was met with this screen and the bg music. I unfortunately am unable to play it now, but will definitely be grabbing the full version on steam!
Hey there. Sorry you ran into this bug with the settings menu. Our team is aware of this issue, and we're currently working on a fix.
In the meantime, if you'd like to play this version, you can get around this problem for now by following these instructions in order to reset the saved settings back to the defaults in order to make your game playable again:
As you can see from this screenshot, you should have a folder (somewhere within the big list of folders on your left) that's labeled "ImpastoTeam" and within that a folder named "Impasto". Go ahead and delete the "Impasto" folder by right-clicking on it and selecting "delete" and all of your saved settings for the game will be reset to default, allowing you to run the game properly again. Just make sure not to mess around with the in-game settings menu too much after that or you may end up back where you started and have to do this all over again (until we can patch this issue for good).
Oh thank you so much! I will absolutely do this! Thank you again!
HI, thanks for your replying!
I got a clip for you. You can see the graveyard key appeared when I inspected my bag the first time and then just disappeared again.
While in earlier times when I played by myself it did not show up even the first time.
Hey ReneeFDEM,
It looks like you forgot to send a link to the clip. From what you are describing though it definitely sounds like a weird bug we were not previously aware of. Really sorry you ran into this. We'll make sure to look into the issue and hopefully fix it in a future update. If you can send us a link to the clip you've made it would help us out a lot!
Sorry I dont have a link cause thats just a clip I recorded myself without uploading on any web and i dont know how to add a local video in comments >_<
This game was unbelievably well done. It captured the artistic vibe well whilst staying true to the haunting identity of Goya's art. I loved playing this and I can't wait to play the steam version. I was particularly impressed with the voice acting! Thank you Dev's! You deserve a huge round of applause for Impasto.
Great game. It looks great, had a nice atmosphere, and the music was spot on. I'll keep an eye out for this game for sure.
Here's my channel for other games I have played. https://www.youtube.com/c/Levont
Must agree that the look on the game is outstanding. I'm really honour you for the presco look that run smoothly on this game. Have no idea how you do that but optimise such thing to run on low end device is crazy!
So beautifully done. The fact that the team managed to capture Goya's universe so well in a game was highly inspirational. The music is just as amazing as the art. Some bugs, speed run possible, the Inquisition is way to slow, not surprisingly, probably always drunk on hate. Tried to parkour some parts and fell thru roofs, but let's be honest, we are playing in a painting anything goes. I am ready to learn that beautiful song on my classical guitar and try and find a Spanish singer, thanks game. I really look forward to the full release and ponder what could be next. Will attach a vid as soon as I am done with editing.
The concept itself is very creepy.
What a Cool concept! I loved that we could actually enter the paintings and speak to Francisco Goya's Creations. I wish it was longer but very good short and sweet indie horror game you got here. Students you did GREAT!
Just downloading the game and looking forward to playing it! The art style looks truly incredible. For the build being locked to 1GB, I think there is a way around that using a command line tool called Butler (https://itch.io/docs/butler/) Blendogames also made a GUI version (https://blendogames.itch.io/blendo-itch-uploader). Edit: anytime :), just finished playing the game and its amazing!
Thanks for the tip! Will look into that.
Also the way you made the portal was great. I ended up having to walk about to just watch how you made the transitions effect. It truly felt like stepping into a new world through a painted portal.
I really loved how well ‘Saturn Devouring his Son’ came out in 3D, it also looked great that people kept the posture that they were painted as. It made the world feel like it was living in imitation to the art, and having the mouths moving would take from the visuals.
Amazing game, really enjoyed it.
Being part of a painting is always amazing.
I love art and this game is a delighful experience about one of the best painters.
My only question is what the song is at the end of the demo. It was such a graceful tune to listen to.
Hi there! That was actually an original song made by our composers for the game. We will probably be releasing the soundtrack sometime in the near future alongside our full release, so stay tuned!
good to hear. You guys did really good with it.
This one really impressed me. I love how you've brought the characters in the paintings to life.
Thank you so much! Really great video, we all loved watching it.
Great game, found some glitches after getting the jump mechanic and some trees you can climb. Over all awesome job.
this was really nice ! i couldnt believe this was made as a student project so good job to everyone involved ! i hope you enjoy my vid of the first chunk of the game and dont laugh when karma hits me after i cheat :D
Oddly satisfying, dark, high class act of visuals and storytelling!
What grabbed me the most about this game was visuals and of course the inspiration of Francisco Goya, who I adore as an artist, who created surreal masterpieces. Second admiration for the game comes from the fact that it is a student driven project, instead of just a "regular" game dev, trying to put out fun game. This has quality.
From start to finish, the voice over, lore, small, yet terrifying details of the paintings, it was an immersive ride. I have no complaints, except that the game should not be free, even with the early access. I think it deserves more credit.
Sound design, the fantastic music, with the exceptional cut away sequences of the character interacting with older people in Zaragoza (I think that's what the city was called) and well written blind character - so much perfection with this.
I definitely recommend to all, who visits this page to download and give some support to you, developers. Looking forward for possible updates, new chapters and good luck to you all. Cheers!
Thank you so much for the feedback we really appreciate it!