hoseboy
point the water down → you go up
A boy walks out of Mountport with a fire hose and starts climbing, because his friend Stacy is at the summit and nobody else is going to go and get her.
PC first · no date, and we're not going to invent one
40m
the shore
It is a climbing game with a plumbing problem.
Mountport is stacked up the side of a mountain that comes straight out of the sea. Fresh water gets scarcer the higher you go, so pumps push seawater up to desalination plants near the top. Whoever owns the taps owns the road.
You have a fire hose, a tank that empties faster than you would like, and no permission to be here.
The boy is a monkey at the moment. Placeholder model, borrowed rig, entirely the wrong species. He gets replaced before anyone else has to look at him.
240m
the climb
The camera tells you how much trouble you're in.
Third person. You can see your own feet, the whole street, and whoever is about to talk to you. Towns are where people live and where the arguments about water actually happen. Nothing in a town can kill you.
First person. The road ran out. You can see your hands, the nozzle, and about four metres of wet rock. Nothing announces the change — the camera drops behind your eyes and the mountain becomes the problem.
This switch is the whole game in one control, so it has to survive every other decision we make. It usually does. It is also the first thing that breaks.
610m
the hose
Aim is movement. There is no jump button.
Water leaves the nozzle and you go the other way. Point down and behind you to leave the ground. Hold it to hover, which is the most expensive thing you can do. Learning to climb is learning to aim behind yourself while looking at where you want to land.
Pressure comes out of a tank that drains while the trigger is down and refills when it isn't. Refills belong to somebody. Where you are allowed to drink turns out to be a question about who let you.
980m
the beetles
Beetles worth not fighting.
Protagonist-sized, iridescent, and in no hurry about anything. Most of them will ignore a boy who moves quietly and keeps his trigger finger still.
The trouble is that attention is contagious. One beetle notices you, the next one notices that one, and the alarm goes uphill considerably faster than you do. A slope you cleared this morning is a different slope by lunch.
Water works on them. So does leaving.
1400m
the upper city
The higher you get, the more city it is.
Backwards, and it is the first thing anyone asks about. Water is the reason. The plants are at the top, so the money is at the top, so the towns get taller, tighter and less pleased to see you the further you climb.
The shore is a fishing village that will feed you. Nine hundred metres up, the same road has street lighting, a permit office, and a man whose entire job is deciding whether your hose is a tool or a weapon.
1810m
the summit
We have not actually been up here yet.
No screenshots, no trailer, no date. The six frames below are the exact sizes the real images will be, left empty on purpose so this page doesn't imply progress that hasn't happened.
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01 the shore and the first pump
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02 a street, third person
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03 the trail, first person
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04 a slope with beetles on it
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05 a desalination plant
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06 the summit, in cloud
Press
Presskit — it will exist when there is something to put in it.
Until then, ask and we'll answer: [email protected]
Get told once, when it's playable.
No schedule, no beats, no launch calendar. One note when there is something to play, and one when there is something worth looking at.
A Steam page and a wishlist button that works land in this block when the store listing is up. Discord, Bluesky and a video channel land next to them.