Chants of Sennaar

Lore & Background

The player controls the Traveler, who awakens at the base of a ziggurat and must translate the languages of five distinct castes: Devotees, Warriors, Bards, Alchemists, and Anchorites. Each language has unique writing systems and grammatical rules, such as pluralization by repetition or separate plural markers. The player uses a notebook to record graphemes and test translations. Stealth sections appear in some areas; being caught sends the player back to the area's entrance.

The plot draws on the Tower of Babel myth and the parable of the blind men and an elephant. The Traveler eventually learns that the Anchorites built the tower and that an AI called Exile maintains their isolation. The Traveler must dismantle Exile and reconnect the castes through communication terminals. After a false ending and a glitched replay, the Traveler breaks free from Exile's virtual reality, and the castes gather at the tower's peak, where the graphemes for their ideals are revealed to be the same symbol rotated in 3D.

Reader's Guide

Chants of Sennaar was developed by the two-person French studio Rundisc, consisting of Julien Moya and Thomas Panuel, who had previously created Varion in 2018. Development began in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The language-deciphering mechanic was inspired by Heaven's Vault and Captain Blood, while puzzle-solving aspects drew from Return of the Obra Dinn, Outer Wilds, and The Talos Principle. The visual design incorporated brutalist, Indian, sub-Saharan, industrial, art deco, Romanesque, and Gothic architecture, as well as influences from artists such as Thierry Urbain, François Schuiten, Jean Giraud, and Philippe Druillet. Level design used the isometric approach of 1980s adventure games like La Abadía del Crimen, Get Dexter, Knight Lore, and Fairlight. The game was shown at Gamescom 2021, where Focus Entertainment agreed to publish and fund further development, including hiring a freelance sound designer. The game was released on 5 September 2023 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, and later for iOS and Android.

Did You Know?

• The Anchorites wear virtual reality headsets at all times and are kept isolated by an AI called Exile.
• The graphemes representing the ideals of each caste are revealed to be the same grapheme rotated in 3D.
• The game was developed by a two-person team, Julien Moya and Thomas Panuel, who previously made Varion.