Kalimba

Kalimba, the next game from the creators of Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, heads to Xbox One on December 17.

Players command pairs of animated totems in Kalimba, using these elements in clever ways to overcome environmental hazards and topple a dark shaman to reclaim the island of Kalimba. Discovering how to use the varying powers and attributes of these totems in conjunction with one another is crucial to surviving each obstacle with a high score intact.

The island of Kalimba spans three worlds, each encompassing multiple levels and brought to life with a special trixelated graphical style in which everything is built from triangles. This original art design provides each character and setting a distinctive look and identity to balance their unique twists. As they progress, players will scale a totem pole that evolves in an increasingly ornate manner based on players’ scores for each stage, creating a living embodiment of a leaderboard.

Kalimba’s old-school two-person couch co-op mode, in which each player controls two totems of their own, has been described by the team as a friendship tester, forcing both partners to work together as a cohesive unit.