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Sky: Light Awaits takes you back to childhood dreams, hand in hand with friends

The team behind Journey delivers beta version of a new game that feels very much finished

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Sky: Light Awaits takes you back to childhood dreams, hand in hand with friends
This article originally appeared on ABACUS
Players worldwide were thrilled when thatgamecompany -- the brilliant mind behind console hits Flow, Flower and Journey -- announced during Apple’s Keynote in 2017 that their next game would come to iOS. Sky: Light Awaits has yet to launch officially, but we recently got our hands on the latest test version (0.4.6) for iPhone. 
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As the name suggests, this game is all about light: You play as children in a dreamy, bright landscape above the clouds. Darkness has descended on many parts of the world, and it’s your job to bring light to them with the candles in your hands. 

It’s a poetic experience, filled with elements that feel like metaphors: Everytime we encounter an unlit statue, we have to light it up by solving a little puzzle related to the “lost light”. As places light up, you grow: Your wings are stronger, and your candles become more powerful. 

But what makes this game great is the way it encourages you to interact with other gamers. Some of the puzzles require multiple players to solve. And unlike other games where you add friends by searching their names or handles, in Sky you meet people by running into them face to face.

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Players you haven’t met before appear half-transparent. If you offer them a candle, and they give theirs back to you: Congratulations, you’re friends now! They now look different to you. You can name each other, give out high-fives, share conversations, and fly together holding hands. 

That’s how we met our friend. Her real name is Alen, but we didn’t find out until later so we called her Namigod at first. 

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