A Christmas Carol is Getting the Metroidvania Treatment

I’ve written about my love for Christmas time before on Phenixx Gaming, so the news of a Metroidvania game set in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol story is tailor-made for me. Orbit Studio is set to release a reimagining of the classic tale this winter with Ebenezer and The Invisible World. The game will come to just about every place you are likely playing games now, so let’s talk about what to expect in this fun and unexpected release.

The tale of A Christmas Carol is well-known, but here’s the gist if you’re not familiar. Ebenezer Scrooge is a cranky rich man who spends his life being awful to his friends and family. He’s visited by three ghosts, Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come. Through their teachings, he learns not to be so terrible. Essentially, Ebenezer and The Invisible World posits that this journey is actually a power he obtains, opening doors to worlds unseen.

Ebenezer will traverse London guiding spirits to their final resting place, but industrialist foe Caspar Malthus will also pose a threat to Ebenezer himself. Why would Scrooge want to take on someone so similar to himself in the Dickens novel? That’s because this game takes place after A Christmas Carol and invites players to control a rehabilitated Ebenezer who is ready to help the spirit world find the peace it brought him.

Across a Metroidvania-style map, players will explore hand-drawn environments and work with NPCs to keep everyone safe both in our world and the one beyond. From the screenshots of the game you see above, it’s clear that this game’s art design is going to be wonderful. If the gameplay can match its quality in terms of fun factor and challenge, we might have a sleeper indie hit releasing just ahead of the holiday season. Ebenezer and The Invisible World will arrive later this year on November 3rd on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam.