Hello Itch.io friends,

We're PM Studios and a little new to these parts, so we wanted to let you all know and familiarize yourself with our next game, Hoa. Developed by Skrollcat Studio and in partnership with KYX Studio, Hoa is a beautiful puzzle-platforming game that features breathtaking hand-painted art, lovely music, and a peaceful, relaxing atmosphere. Experience the magic of nature and imagination as you play the main character, Hoa, on her journey through breathtaking environments back to where it all began. The game begins when Hoa returns to her homeland for the first time after many fairy years of being away. As she presses on, her fairy power breathes life back into the land, and wakes its residents up from their long slumber. The further Hoa goes, the more friends she makes, and the more she finds out about herself and her homeland. The journey, however, remains mysterious in its purpose, until it ends at the Land of the Spirits – a dreamlike realm where the back-story is finally unveiled.

This is all thanks to the wonderful development team at Skrollcat Studio. Skrollcat Studio was formed in 2019 by a group of five Vietnamese friends working and studying together in Singapore: Four of them (including the two founders Son Tung and Son Tra) graduated from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, with backgrounds ranging from Interactive Media to Digital Animation to Computer Engineering. Thanks to an open call to composers, they found their fifth member, Johannes Johansson, whose music very much rings the voice of the game.

Before the studio formed, Tung and Tra had started discussing story ideas and making early pieces of concept art way back in 2017. They kept it as something of a hobby outside of their full time job and study, but the more they worked on it, the more it grew into something that has character – a life of its own. They turned Hoa into a serious project in 2019 after encouraging online reception of the original concept. Being a small young team with little experience and an ambitious project, the team tried to look for external help, and had the chance to collaborate with some amazing artists and outsourcing partners from around the world. One of them is KYX Studio, who has provided amazing production support.

The Music

Captivatingly story-telling and emotionally-charged, Hoa's exceptional score, originally composed and live-recorded, brings its world to life with a touch of nostalgia. Check out the live recording of Hoa's Theme below, along with credits to the amazing people and locations that brought it to life.

• Composed by Johannes Johansson
• Music orchestration by Lauri Koivisto
• Sound engineering by Simon Paldanius
• Strings recorded at Budapest Scoring (https://www.budapestscoring.com/)
• Piano recorded at Yardhouse Studio (https://yardhouse.se)
• Mastering by Joe Vegna (https://joevegna.com) 

As always, we want Hoa to be, if nothing else, a beautiful little game that warms your heart and is a humble reminder of the way the world awed you as a child. On behalf of both the development and publishing teams, we’re really looking forward to all of you trying it out for yourselves.

Hoa is currently set to release on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch on August 24, 2021! Follow along with development at hoathegame.com and on Twitter.