Lost Museum: Echoes of the Chromageists to open next year

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

New game written by the designer of Another Code and Hotel Dusk coming to PC and Switch 2

Museums are such fascinating places, filled with exhibits representing pieces of the past. Usually we know only parts of the story, the rest lost to history. If only those exhibits could come to life and fill in the gaps for someone other than Ben Stiller... Well, next year they will, in Happinet's and Wit One's upcoming Lost Museum: Echoes of the Chromageists. 

For reasons unknown, famous paintings are disappearing from the known world. Fortunately, some find their way to a "mysterious gallery [that] exists within the 'Lost Space', a dimension isolated from reality." There they become Chromageists, living humanoid beings "born of the thoughts, emotions, and memories" contained within their respective paintings, with faces to match but now missing "vital memories" and devoid of meaning. One day a boy named Vince inadvertently stumbles into the Lost Museum in search of his missing brother. Finding a "magic pen with mystical powers," Vince discovers that he's able to interact with the Chromageists. Always eager to please, the boy "finds himself beholden to the whims" of the living paintings, but in doing so is able to gain their trust. Now, with the help of a "childlike" Chromageist named Novi, players must tap into the emotions of these "forgotten masterpieces" to uncover "the mystery behind their lost memories" and restore the stories "still left to be told."

If that sounds like the kind of adventure Cing might once have made, there's good reason for that. Conceived by Happinet, Lost Museum is being written by Rika Suzuki, former co-founder of Cing and the acclaimed writer/designer behind Another Code and Hotel Dusk. The game's  first-person slideshow-style presentation features an appropriately lovely hand-painted art style. It's the player's role to "point and click to search around the interior of the museum," whether to "investigate paintings and furnishings, or converse with the Chromageists to find hints that will lead you to their lost memories." The Chromageists themselves each have "their own quirks and opinions," with familiar faces ranging from "Sunflowers, to the Mona Lisa, to The Great Wave off Kanagawa." Once you have successfully uncovered their forgotten pasts, you'll "use the power of deduction to restore [their] memories." Assisting you will be your floating companion Novi, whose own face is "made of glimmering lights" resembling Van Gogh's The Starry Night, and along the way the two of you will "bond and grow together" through your shared adventures. 

There is no firm target release date just yet, but Lost Museum: Echoes of the Chromageists is due to launch on Steam for Windows PC sometime in the second quarter of 2027, along with a console version for the Nintendo Switch 2.