While the game excelled in design, reviewers criticized it for being too short with a story that lacked substance. However, this puts Superliminal at an advantage, as it seems that while the foundations of the game are solid, all a sequel would need is a more fleshed-out and engaging story. The case for Superliminal 2 is therefore not only an easy one to make, but one that could help propel Superliminal to become the next cult classic game, combining the head-scratching puzzles of Portal with the surreal aesthetic of The Stanley Parable.
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The Story Of Superliminal
As odd as it sounds, the groundwork for Superliminal began when Pillow Castle Games lead Albert Shih was a student at Carnegie Mellon University while working on an assignment revolving around unusual first-person usage of moving cubes. One of Shih’s biggest influences came from Antichamber, inspired by the game’s outside-the-box puzzles he used this to further develop the forced perspective problem-solving for Superliminal. A tech demo was showcased throughout 2013 and 2014 under the name “Museum of Simulation Technology” where it garnered critical acclaim, eventually gaining traction with internet communities who supported the demo and likened its design to Portal. Ultimately, this led to Pillow Castle Games working towards a launch of an official launch as Superliminal in 2019.
The actual narrative behind Superliminal is a novel concept and does the heavy-lifting explaining the game’s surreal mechanics. The protagonist is a volunteer patient at the Pierce Institute, headed by Dr. Glenn Pierce, to test its SomnaSculpt technology. This technology is for dream therapy, but the player finds themselves trapped in the dreamworld after attempting to wake up. Guided by an AI and Dr. Pierce, they attempt to find a means of escape, but only when doing so is it revealed that everything that happened was supposed to happen and was all part of their therapy to “view problems from a different perspective.” While a succinct idea, the game’s length and lack of character development let the overall story down, leaving the door wide open for a sequel.
The Solutions For Superliminal 2
Curiously, Superliminal’s legacy didn’t end after its official release to PC in 2019. Following the game’s success, console ports were announced and eventually released in 2020, but the new versions came with additional content, including a director’s commentary and a challenge mode. Even stranger still, a battle royale mode was added to the game for a limited time as an “experiment,” dubbed Group Therapy it saw players competing to complete randomly generated puzzle rooms to reach the exit first. With the additional content developers included and the game’s continued popularity, it’s clear that the grounds for a sequel are fertile and waiting for Pillow Castle Games to improve upon its original vision.
So long as Superliminal’s original game design is good, the only real issue the studio would need to tackle is its story, assuming that a better story would lead to a longer game. As mentioned, Superliminal’s initial story was well-meaning, but it lacked any form of character to relate this to, so “lessons learned” through dream therapy didn’t apply to anything or anyone. An easy fix would be to introduce an actual protagonist with an identity of their own instead of the player’s and provide them with a backstory as to why they might seek out experimental dream therapy. Taking a focus on mental health could be an excellent springboard for the story, such as helping with trauma, grief, guilt, or beyond.
An additional step would be to lean more heavily on Portal for inspiration, firstly by introducing an actual antagonist of some sort similar to GLaDOS. One obvious conflict to create would be to position Dr. Pierce and the game’s AI as opposites to one another, with Pierce attempting to pull the patient out of the dream world and the AI determined to keep them in. Secondly, a sequel would need to implement stakes for the player, as both Portal games attempted to work against Chell trying to escape Aperture, even putting her in harm’s way. This conveniently aligns with the need for Superliminal 2 to have an antagonist, meaning Pillow Castle Games has another easy solution to the original Superliminal’s shortcomings.
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The Possibility of Superliminal 2
As much as there might be player support for Superliminal, there hasn’t been any official word on a possible sequel, nor any other future games from Pillow Castle Games for that matter. The studio remains active promoting Superliminal even throughout this year’s Steam Summer Sale, but with two years having passed since the game’s second release to consoles and nearly three years from its initial launch, fans are anticipating news from the studio eventually. It would be a shame if Pillow Castle Games weren’t going to capitalize on the success of its debut game, but for a small indie studio that now has players’ expectations to manage, it could be some time before they have anything to announce.
Superliminal’s own development time was about six years, beginning all the way back in 2013, meaning that conservatively it could be another six years again until Superliminal 2 will be ready for release, provided that is the studio’s next game. Assuming that Superliminal 2 is next on the docket for Pillow Castle Games, rather than another new project entirely, then with just a few easy fixes and some more work to enrich the canon of the world it has created, the sequel might not actually be as far off as estimates could suggest. Whether players will get a Superliminal 2, however, is completely down to the developers. Fans will remain hopeful all the same that Superliminal won’t join the likes of other games that deserve sequels but never got one.
Superliminal is available now on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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