Hello PlayStation community—I’m Chris Stair, creative director at Squid Shock Studios, and I’m excited to share some details about our first game, Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus, a hand-drawn action-platformer coming to PlayStation 5 on July 17.
Some of the big inspirations for Bō were the 2D exploration action games I played as a kid. I loved the magic and mystery that came with exploration, the thrill of discovering new abilities, and the satisfaction of figuring out how to use the skills you found to uncover a secret path.
Some of my favorite games in the genre also have really memorable moves: throwing bombs at walls, launching yourself away from enemies, or just running backwards through castle halls. In Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus, we wanted to create a movement and combat system with a distinct, rewarding rhythm—one that would make you feel like you’d entered a state of “flow” when everything came together—and wanted to talk a little more about that with you today.
Let the flow continue
Bō doesn’t have the ability to double jump by default, so one technique you’ll need to learn early on is what we call Bump. When Bō hits an object or enemy with the Equinox Staff while in the air, you’ll glow aquamarine, giving you the ability to jump in mid-air. If you hit something again after that second jump, you’ll glow again and be able to jump a third time, and so on.
You’ll often combine this with Bō’s Pogo move to gain extra flight time. If you press down and hit an object while descending, not only will you instantly bounce back up and gain some height, but you’ll also reset your jump, allowing you to perform another mid-air jump right after.
And as long as there are objects or monsters in the environment to hit, you can keep Bumping and Pogoing indefinitely, staying in the air as long as you can maintain the rhythm. It becomes a little game of its own.
Eventually, you’ll discover other movement abilities that let you dash or slam powerfully into the air. We hope that as you play and get used to your abilities, you’ll start to see opportunities throughout the game for all of these things to work together—enemies appearing in boss fights, seemingly random environmental objects, odd platform placement—and settle into a truly rewarding rhythm.
Trouble is brewing
These abilities aren’t just for movement; they enhance your combat skills as well. A key component of this action is the Mysterious Teapot you receive from Asahi, a tentaihana rabbit (a spirit-like creature) that plays a central role throughout your entire journey.
When you attack enemies with your Equinox Staff, including when you Bump or Pogo, you’ll draw their energy into the kettle and brew some tea. You can then use that tea in a variety of ways, such as restoring health (if you can find a moment of peace) or summoning one of the Daruma Dolls you’ve collected, which will unleash some of the most powerful attacks in the game.
Especially Daruma dolls Love Hot tea. The hotter your tea is when you summon a Daruma, the more devastating their attacks will be. And the way you heat up your teapot, as you probably guessed, is by staying in the air in combat for as long as possible. So we really tried to create a system where aerial agility and combat ability are intertwined.
We designed Bō’s areas and encounters around this idea. Seemingly impassable chasms with an archipelago of enemies serving as your path. Boss battles where you’ll bounce higher and higher off small enemies, building up momentum to headshot the boss with a powerful Daruma Doll attack. All with the goal of making it fairly easy to learn, but challenging and rewarding to master.
Boiling point
While we take a lot of inspiration from 2D action exploration games, the world and gameplay also draw a lot from Japanese folklore and traditions. The character Bō is partly inspired by the stories of Princess Kaguya and Momotaro. Many of the yokai and monsters Bō fights represent our own interpretations of classic folk tales, like your confrontation with the giant Hashihime who guards the bridge in Bō’s world. Bō powers up her Daruma Doll by finding ink to add eyes, which in our real world is associated with achieving goals and good luck. Bō can also collect and equip a variety of Omamori, amulets that give you bonuses to customize your gameplay.
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There’s much more to discover, and many more ways to find your own flow, waiting in Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus. We hope you’ll check it out when it launches on PlayStation 5 on July 17.
