The game starts when you wake up with no clue about his past: you do not know who you are, where you are and why you’re here. You are in an inhabited world, but cannot find other people, only messages of someone named Willie. From these messages, you find your own name, Klayman, and some tips on what to do.

Throughout the game you explore this world, looking for information, but you need to solve some challenges, which are usually memory games. Early on you find recordings of Willie, a being who looks very silly but has awesome things to say, like: “These discs are all that’s left of the true story, (…) once you know this truth, you will know what to do ”.

The story of Neverhood is the biblical story of Creation and the Fall of Man, as told in Genesis, but with a comical twist. Note that the player does not really need all the information he gathers to finish the game. But the idea is that we need this knowledge to know what to do about a moral choice that is presented at the end of the game. We need this wisdom to answer the following theological question: can a creature exercise dominion over creation?

The importance of history is represented by the great wall of memories, composed of 38 screens. Since the character does not run, it takes several minutes to read it all. On the wall are written the Chronicles of Neverhood, the text is a parody of the Christian Bible. It tells the story of creation and the life of the first beings of that weird universe. Imagine a kid that stops to read about 40 pages of “biblical-like stories” when playing a videogame… But I think the game designers had a good reason. The text is long, but it is the preserved tradition of that world, and explains many things you find in the game, and it is very funny. At the end of the wall you find the message that gives access to your own history. The puzzles often convey a metaphor for religious values, like humility. Neverhood seems to be the denial of two things: paternity (fatherhood) and fraternity (brotherhood).

Conclusion: Amazing chance to mix comical relief with theological pondering.