In Sands of Hope you bring water back to a desert open world by exploring it with a robot and its dog

At the IndieDevDay 2024 in Barcelona we filmed 26 interviews about projects of different sizes and genres, but just one of them got its audio corrupted. So no, you cannot watch our full interview with Pere Albacar and Frankie Povarchik from Guateke Studios below, but you can watch the trailer for Sands of Hope and learn a bit more about it.

"So, this game has no combat, and it's very based on that experience of getting to know this world, this desert, and how to bring balance back to it", Pere told us at the IDD, and you'll have to take our word for that. And speaking of inspirations, he later on added that "it's for everyone who loves games like The Short Hike and [top-down] Zelda", with the sense of straight-forward exploration of the former and the added mechanical complexity of the latter.

In this non-linear indie effort, set in a small but open world, players control a newly crafted robot exploring a desert landscape to uncover its hidden secrets with the companionship of a dog. As both the trailer and the screenshots below show, the title features 3D-pixel art graphics and a cast of cute/unique characters. As the devs explained at the event, gameplay involves using magnetic abilities to navigate sandy terrain and solve puzzles, gradually building a connection with the robot's abandoned pup companion.

Guateke currently are one fourth into the development of Sands of Hope, which will release on Steam first, "then we'll see if we can get it on other platforms".