Since this year is the 10 year anniversary of the series, it felt appropriate to take a moment and shed some light on the more mysterious aspects of the story.

I do realize that I have a reputation for rambling on a bit at times, taking side tangents whenever the opportunity presents itself. I'll do my best to keep it brief and to the point this time.

As I'm writing this, I'm traveling via train to a fishing competition hosted by the legendary Aprilli Kuravesi. This works out perfectly as a deadline. I'll explain as much as I can for the duration of the journey, and whatever is on the page when I arrive is what's released. Should keep the pressure on to avoid unnecessary detail and to only focus on what's truly relevant.

Ready?

Let's go!

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Lumi (that being the name of cat you play as in both games) has some additional bits of lore that, while written down in the official internal story documents, haven't yet been revealed to the public.

Fun fact: the name "Lumi" isn't actually mentioned in the games. That knowledge is exclusive to the world outside the games. It seems fitting to continue this tradition, and reveal something more about Lumi in the same manner.

Which leads us directly into...

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Eleven out of twelve people who eat burgers with their left hands have reportedly had trouble doing so, based on a study done in the 1950s.

Burger King found out about this and promptly developed and rolled out the left handed Whopper in 1957. They accomplished this feat by carefully rotating each of the condiments by exactly 180 degrees. This in turn resulted in a weight distribution much better suited for left handed eating, with less of the toppings spilling out of the burger.

A total of 94% of left handed people reported an improved burger consumption experience as a result of this change.

So with that additional context, we can now circle back to the previous topic.

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The Companion level pack, released in 2016, offered a lot of backstory for the gray square.

I've noticed quite a few different approaches to interpreting the events of the pack. There's one point of view in particular that I'd like to mention and discuss a bit more.

But before going deeper into that topic, we need to take a small side tangent.

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Seven decades ago (give or take), in 1962, Swedish national television (SVT) broadcast a 5 minute tutorial on converting a black and white television to a color television.

All you needed was a nylon stocking and some tape. By taping the stocking over the display, the light from the TV would bend, and the original color of the broadcast would be restored. Though you would need to sit at a very specific distance from the TV for the effect to work properly.

If you happen to have an old black and white CRT laying around, give this a shot!

Let's get back on track.

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Even though the Companion's role and backstory was expanded upon in the Companion level pack for A Light in the Shadows, the gray square still has some undiscovered secrets.

One thing I haven't seen people discuss at all, is the four-cornered shape of the character. It actually holds quite a bit of significance.

Which actually reminds me of something...

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Six kilometers off the coast of Antarctica, there's a colony of Adélie penguins. What makes this colony in particular special is that they've evolved the ability to fly.

A BBC film crew was lucky enough to capture them migrating in 2008. The footage was later broadcast on BBC1 as part of a new show called "Miracles of Evolution".

Really makes you think, doesn't it?

And now that you have the necessary backstory, we can get back to the actual topic.

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The Reset level pack was quite lore heavy. I think its time we take a deeper dive into some overlooked aspects of that pack.

I just realized that it's probably best if I shed some light on how this whole topic came about.

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Eight years after the previous release for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Google released Google Maps for the NES in April of 2012.

Smartphones are still, even to this day, quite expensive. Adding support for the NES brought online maps to a huge number of households that were previously stuck using those paper maps that are impossible to fold back properly.

It features everything from just browsing the maps to step-by-step navigation instructions. And of course the most important thing of all: an amazing chiptune soundtrack that perfectly captures the feeling of a traffic jam adventure.

But I digress.

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The purple cat. Obviously I'm not yet ready to reveal everything regarding this mysterious entity. But, for this special occasion, I think it's time to shed some light on who/what "the purple cat" really is.

Are you ready for the reveal of a lifetime?

This being a great segue into...

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Five months ago I got the opportunity to visit San Serriffe. Apart from just being an extraordinary holiday destination, it also has the most fascinating geography.

Founded in 1967, its the only "moving" island on the planet.

Due to continued erosion of the island's west side and simultaneous deposition of its east coast, the island is moving rapidly (well, geographically speaking rapidly) north-east from its current position near the coast of Africa. Experts say there's a high chance of collision with Sri Lanka in the coming years.

Now, where was I?

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The role of the narrator is not something I see discussed that often, if at all.

It's quite interesting from a lore point of view, since its a bit debatable if the narrator is a character at all. Technically they don't exist in the game world.

I'd like to offer an alternative point of view, that might make some people see the narrator in a completely new way.

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And that's time! The train is just now arriving at the station.

Hopefully these explanations shed some light onto the more obscure aspects of the story and answered at least some of the questions you might have had.

I think I did quite well with regards to staying on topic, if I do say so myself.

Keep in mind that the 10th anniversary celebrations will continue for the rest of the year. And there's plenty more stuff in store! Make sure to stay tuned on our socials and keep checking the 10th anniversary page for all the latest updates.

See ya!
- Dev