How We Soar takes flight today, exclusively on PlayStation VR

Hi everyone, Tom Turner from Penny Black Studios here! Today is very exciting day for us because we are releasing our debut game – How We Soar – exclusively for PlayStation VR.

After nearly 18 months in development, countless bird flight model iterations and all the excitement that goes with getting to grips with brand new hardware, we’re finally ready to release our game on this amazing new platform!

How We Soar is a VR flight experience that lets you take up the reins of a beautiful, giant Phoenix and explore an enchanting papercraft world. Seated on the back of this mythical creature, you fly throughout the diaries and works of the ‘Author’, bringing life to the pages of his creations and uncovering his personal story as you soar.

The game focuses on the tale of The Author and a woman he meets named Lily. I’m really proud and excited to announce to you today that the game will be voiced by the amazingly talented duo of Katherine Carlton and Grahame Fox!!

To give you a measure of Katherine Carlton’s talent, straight after graduating she found herself in a Shakespeare production opposite Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones! As well as numerous film and theatre roles, she has also featured in Downton Abbey.

She brings a beautifully quirky interpretation of our character Lily. In fact we didn’t even know Lily was going to be quirky, but we simply had to go with Katherine’s fantastic reading!

Grahame Fox brings a real warmth and grounded feel to The Author. What was important to us was that his character takes us on an emotional journey, as he struggles to balance with his need for creative freedom with the demands of daily life. You might have recently heard Grahame as Eygon of Cairm in Dark Souls III and even seen him in a little known TV show called Game of Thrones!

We were exceedingly lucky to be able to work with actors of their calibre and we really feel that their performances have really lifted the whole experience (pun intended!).

Each level in our papercraft world is broken down into individual story scenes that initially appear as fragments floating in the world. It’s up to you to explore each level, rebuild the world through flight and create the story scenes. You’ll then be rewarded with some character dialogue to further the story. These scenes can be completed in any order, without any time pressure. So just take it easy and enjoy the ride!