Strange Antiquities News

[h3]Dear Thaumaturges,[/h3]

Remember that teaser from a while ago?

Well, today we’re incredibly excited to finally give you a more detailed glimpse into the wonderful world of Strange Antiquities. A few weeks ago, we got together in an old candle-lit cottage and tried to recreate some of the atmosphere from the game – rustic shelves, old maps, and as many strange-looking antiques as we could find – to film an exclusive, first look trailer!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

In this gameplay trailer, you’ll get a first in-depth look at some of the mechanics in Strange Antiquities. We’ll take you through the updated Closer Inspect system that allows you to examine items in more detail, as well as the Thaumaturge's library of esoteric tomes.

For this sequel, we wanted to take the identity of Strange Horticulture, while building on the parts we all love and bringing more depth to the gameplay and detective work. It’ll still feel like Undermere with its cosy rain-soaked atmosphere and darkly mysterious undercurrent – but with new challenges, new puzzles, and new approaches. What new feature are you most excited about?

We can’t wait to show you more in the future,

John & Rob

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Bad Viking

• Bluesky
• Twitter
• Facebook

Iceberg Interactive

• Twitter
• Bluesky
• TikTok
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Steam Publisher Page

[h3]Dear Thaumaturges,[/h3]

John & Rob here! We’ve been working away on Strange Antiquities for the past few months and are so excited about where we’re going with this sequel. With the incredible results of the Undermere Herald Art Contest still in the back of our minds, we’re more motivated to work on this game than ever.

And we’ll get to share some of that enthusiasm soon. We’ve been tinkering on a little something that we’ll be sharing with all of you in early December. We don’t want to give too much away, but we did prepare a little sneak peek in this teaser:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
(And no, despite appearances, it’s not a Netflix True Crime Documentary!)

We’re excited about this, and we hope you are too. Can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on.

John & Rob

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Bad Viking

• Bluesky
• Twitter
• Facebook

Iceberg Interactive

• Twitter
• Bluesky
• TikTok
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Steam Publisher Page

[h3]Dear readers, [/h3]

Welcome to another special edition of the Undermere Herald - the most trustworthy news source for Undermere and its surroundings.

As wintry winds sweep the streets and the frost settles on the windows of Undermere, what better time to sit down by the hearth and enjoy some beautiful art? That’s right, readers: after rigorous inspection and deliberation, we have chosen the winners of the Undermere Herald Art Contest.

Back in September, we challenged our most artistically inclined readers to design their version of the exterior of Undermere’s esteemed supplier of artefacts, Strange Antiquities, and quite frankly, we’re overwhelmed. We’re overwhelmed with the tremendous amount of art that has been sent in and it felt like an insurmountable task to determine a winner.

Before we dive into the outcome, we want to thank everyone who participated for their contributions! Seeing everyone’s art pour in has been inspiring, and the stunning artistry of your submissions took us aback, in the best possible way.

Every single entry was unique & special, which is why we want you to see all of them. Hence why in a supplement to the Herald, we have shared what we loved about each piece.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[h3]But without further ado, here are our winning entries in the Undermere Herald Art Contest. [/h3]


As you can see we couldn't separate our two winners so we have given two first prizes!

All our podium winners will get a Steam code for the game as soon as it releases. Our 2 winners also get some exclusive physical art prints which we will be in contact to arrange.

Here is full list of all the entries to the contest. Aside from those that made the podium, all entries are in a random order. Each one deserves an honorable mention. You can see all the artwork and our thoughts on each one here.



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, that does it for this special edition. We want to thank you again for showcasing your talent and taking the time to show us your love for Undermere through so many unique mediums.

It’s hard to express how much it moves us to see the kind of love and effort that people put into sharing their love for Strange Antiquities in our small town.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Bad Viking

• Twitter
• Facebook

Iceberg Interactive

• Twitter
• TikTok
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Steam Publisher Page

[h3]Dear readers,[/h3]

Welcome to the November edition of the Undermere Herald – the most trustworthy news source for Undermere and its surroundings.

A shop like Strange Antiquities, with all its potentially dangerous, magical items, needs to be run like a tight ship. Thaumaturge Eli White ensures that none of his artefacts get in the hands of the wrong person through an intricate process of research and identification. But how does one keep track of the properties of such a vast array of items? The answer is simple: labels!

The Labelling System


Horticulturists among you know the importance of colourful labels and thoroughly enjoy labelling each new discovery you make. Strange Antiquities makes use of a more in-depth labelling system. Along with the options to pick different colours for each label, there are a variety of shapes to try out, and symbols that you can add to help put your own touch on the labels you give to your items.

We also know that some of you did not enjoy labelling plants so don't worry, we've got you covered too! Auto-labelling is still an option.

A Small Reminder

We would also like to remind the artists, scribes, tinkerers, etc., among you that submissions for the Undermere Herald’s art contest are still open and we’re finally ready to announce the prize!

As announced in the last edition, we’re looking for creative minds to imagine their own version of Strange Antiquities’ storefront. The winner of the contest will get an exclusive Strange Antiquities art print, created by John & Rob Donkin, the developers of the Strange series.


To enter, you’ll have to show us the full scope of your creativity! Use any medium you choose—paint, clay, crochet, anything—to depict the exterior of Strange Antiquities. Let your ideas run wild, but keep it crafted by hand—no AI allowed. Submit your work via correspondence at [email protected] by November 15th.

We’ve been enamoured by the submissions so far and we can’t wait to see the rest!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Bad Viking

• Twitter
• Facebook

Iceberg Interactive

• Twitter
• TikTok
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Steam Publisher Page

[h3]Dear reader,[/h3]

Welcome to the August edition of the Undermere Herald - the most trustworthy news source for Undermere and its surroundings.

As we’re nearing the end of the dog days of summer, it’s time to accustom ourselves to the coming of muckier weather. In today’s edition of the Herald, we’ll familiarise ourselves with one of Undermere’s most famous felines, while peeking behind the curtain of the shop he resides in — Strange Antiquities!

Jupiter

Jupiter is the Thaumaturge's cat. Or, perhaps more accurately, Eli is Jupiter's Thaumaturge. Jupiter found Strange Antiquities, perhaps drawn by the curiosities within, and made it his home. Eli was more than happy to accommodate him, but he learned early on that Jupiter was his own master.

His business is his own, but it largely consists of regular naps, terrorising rodents, and midnight explorations of Undermere and beyond. What he does on his excursions is a mystery, but he seems to be well-known among the residents of Undermere.

We named Jupiter after a lengthy brainstorming discussion where we explored the game’s themes to find something appropriate. We liked Jupiter because, as well as being associated with both astrology and alchemy, it is also the name of the cat in Robin Jarvis' excellent Deptford Mice series of books which we enjoyed as kids.
Image 1: Jupiter – king of naps and death of rats

A Short Discussion on Puzzles

Those of you who have played Strange Horticulture will find the gameplay of Strange Antiquities familiar. The core of the game involves serving customers by using your detective skills to identify an item on your shelves. If you’re thinking, ‘but plants all have similar visual properties whereas items all look quite different so surely they’ll be easy to tell apart,’ you’d be absolutely right! This has been one of the main challenges we’ve faced while developing the game, but we find that these sorts of constraints can push us to be more creative and we’ve been able to take that central gameplay concept a lot further than we did in Strange Horticulture.

That means as a player you might expect to need to do a little more detective work this time around, perhaps flicking through your well-worn copy of Hermetic Symbology to track down a relevant symbol, or cross-referencing with a book on gemstones to learn which Thaumic discipline Bloodstone belongs to. We’ve still got some tweaking to do to make sure the difficulty is where we want it to be, but we’re excited for you to get your hands on it and find out what you make of it!

Image 2. An excerpt from 'Gemstones and their Thaumic Properties'

Strange Words

What better way to celebrate the investigative work of the Thaumaturge, than with a little brain teaser? See if you can find all the words in the very first Undermere Herald crossword puzzle! (Feel free to print it out or just solve it by clicking on the image!)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Bad Viking

• Twitter
• Facebook

Iceberg Interactive

• Twitter
• TikTok
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Steam Publisher Page