Day: March 14, 2022

Look out over the indie movie landscape of the last few months and you’ll see a trend: women running. More specifically, single, neurotic women running while coping with their middle-class problems. Renate Reinsve did it in The Worst Person in the World; Alana Haim did it in Licorice Pizza. But they’re not alone. Remember Frances in Frances Ha? She did it too. And let’s not forget Run Lola Run. But what if you, dear reader, were the director of their lives? To wit, may we present Saturn Return, an open-world role-playing game that someone should really make.

Saturn Return: Existential Crisis

The Story

No boyfriend. No career. And now—no roommate. In Saturn Return, you play as Fiona, a dilettante in search of purpose while coping with adult responsibilities. As she rapidly approaches 30, Fiona wakes up in a city filled with lost potential and closed doors.

Armed with only her intellect and wit, Fiona must make money, fall in love, meet cool and interesting people, and gain validation in order to survive in this bitter land and regain her lost optimism—all before the planet Saturn returns to the same ecliptic longitude it occupied at her birth.

The Gameplay

As Fiona, you can explore the landscape of Metro any way that you like! You can attend parties and ask NPCs if they like their jobs, flirt with local baristas, performatively shop in the bookstore, ask a bartender if they have any good sour beers, or search for new destinations. (Maybe go to that museum exhibit your friend recommended? They read about it in The New Yorker.) You set your own path into the overpriced neighborhood she’s decided to call home.

Status Meters

Fiona has two meters that let you know her current ability to function: her mood and stamina. When they’re both filled up, she can explore the world endlessly! When they’re depleted, she is stuck in her apartment and retreating into her brain.

Mood

• Depressed → Jubilant
• Anxious → Chill

Stamina

• Can’t get out of bed → Plans every night
• Dehydrated → Hydrated

Inventory

• Tote bag: Fiona keeps all her belongings in a public radio tote bag.
• Bike: Once you obtain a bike the world becomes a little bit smaller.
• Edibles: Discover cannabis edibles hidden away from a trip to California last year.
• Expired student ID: You can sometimes get into museums with this.
• Punch card for coffee shop by old office: Yeah, you should toss it, but what if you might need it someday?

Controls

The controls for Saturn Return are pretty straightforward, but each one can have profound effects on Fiona’s mood, stamina, and ability to deal. Press the buttons below to select from several options.

A to Interact

Waste on the water is an annoying form of pollution for many people who want to enjoy the watery scenic view at ports, marinas, lakes, and canals. IADYS came up with a solution to tackle waste on the surfaces of water with its water floating robot Jellyfishbot. Jellyfishbot is effectively a fully electric aquatic water Roomba that maneuvers around tight spaces to capture trash and other waste. Equipped with a waste net that can collect up to 20 gallons of waste, Jellyfishbot can be operated by remote control or autonomously. The autonomous feature lets users select their desired cleaning area by mapping it on the remote control and activating the autonomous function to finish the job. A fully charged Jellyfishbot can operate for six to eight hours. Three propellors move it forward, backward and sideways. To learn more about Jellyfishbot and its capabilities head over to the website of Jellyfishbot’s maker, IADYS. 

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