Manifold Garden Gets Surprise Release Window After Almost Seven Years In Development

After spending nearly seven years in development, the much-anticipated gravity-defying puzzler Manifold Garden finally has a release date: tomorrow.

Indie developer William Chyr revealed the surprise launch date via a trailer spanning just over a minute and half, showing off the game's mind-bending puzzles and Escher-esque architecture. Evoking some serious Inception vibes, the geometry of Manifold Garden loops endlessly, letting you manipulate gravity to explore the world from different perspectives and traverse any visible surface.

"Rediscover gravity and explore an Escher-esque world of impossible architecture," says the official description. "Witness infinity in first-person, and master its rules to solve physics-defying puzzles. Cultivate a garden to open new paths forward, where an eternal expanse awaits."

Work on Manifold Garden started in November 2012 under the name Relativity. A successful Indie Fund campaign followed in early 2015 with Chyr continuing to build hype for the physics-based thought experiment through showings at over 20 game conventions and festivals.

Speaking to Polygon, Chyr described Manifold Garden as "a metaphor for the last 400 years of physics." As the game progresses, you're tasked with restoring the barren world, revitalizing it with water, trees, and other forms of vegetation. This aspect, added after Chyr formed the original concept, acts as a nod to the game's title. "It was very angular and very harsh and very barren," Chyr explained. "I like the idea of bringing life to this world and I like the idea of cultivating something."

Manifold Garden will be available for PC through the Epic Games Store and for iOS and MacOS devices via Apple Arcade starting tomorrow, October 18. The game also has listings on Steam and the PlayStation Store. It looks like it will be a timed Epic Games Store exclusive before coming to Steam in October 2020. The PlayStation launch is still listed as "TBD."