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Rooster: a virtual portal to ancient China

Arts
Peak Web
Peak Web
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PHOTO: Sticky Brain Studios

By: Izzy Cheung, Arts & Culture Editor

A parchment-like scroll is laid out on a flat surface. Perfectly imperfect splotches of watercolour red, gray, and green bleed onto the pages as they shift under your command. Black brushstrokes line up the scenes you are about to experience — paper lanterns, busy markets, and ornate pagodas. This is the world of Rooster, a “single-player point-and-click” video game that explores the culture of ancient China. 

Created by the Toronto-based Sticky Brain Studios, Rooster is set to launch early in 2025. While it may be a bit of a wait to play Rooster itself, you can test out some of Sticky Brain Studios’ other phone-downloadable games like Loki’s Castle, an underwater puzzle-solving app with the cutest little player creature, and Kimono, a dress-up game that spans various settings and seasons. The things that stand out to me most about this studio’s games are the clean, cute, and charming art styles. 

I’m not a huge video game aficionado, but I do like to play when a plotline intrigues me. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this game, but the soft, delicate art style of Chinese brush painting that danced across the screen was a surprise to me. 

From the beginning, it was clear to me that this game’s art style would be one of its defining features. Watching the titular character Rooster run across the setting of an ancient Chinese kingdom reminded me of the paintings you’d see on old scrolls with browned, frayed edges locked behind an art gallery’s glass display window. The colours of the kingdom were muted in a way that made it look faded, as if they had been worn away by time.     

A melodic, flowy soundtrack reminiscent of windchimes accompanied my journey as Rooster, a member of the Chinese zodiac who is sent back in time to learn some important life lessons. To make it back to their own time period, Rooster encounters a series of mini-games, with one game representing each member of the Chinese zodiac. The games are simple — but the designs are not. Lush, elegantly-crafted backgrounds become the centerpiece of hide-and-seek games that leave the player searching for ingredients for the perfect gift. Each game ends with a member of the zodiac awarding Rooster with an important item for later on in the story. 

“From the beginning, it was clear to me that this game’s art style would be one of its defining features.” 

This captivatingly crafty game provides more than just pretty graphics and stress relief. Pop-up question marks adorned like paper lanterns give players small tidbits about ancient Chinese culture. There were facts embedded within the game that I wasn’t even aware of — but I won’t spoil those for you. At its core, Rooster is a time-transcending celebration of Chinese culture that is represented through the beautiful artwork displayed on screens. 

Add Rooster to your Steam wishlist. 

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© The Peak Publications Society

Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

For advertising inquiries: [email protected]
For promotional inquiries: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society