Californium
Taking the form of wacky shenanigans and a first-person experience of a bad trip, Californium pays homage to sci-fi legend Philip K. Dick by transporting you into the life of a writer who is searching for his…
Californium is an adventure developed by Darjeeling, released 17 February 2016 on Mac and PC (Microsoft Windows). It currently starts at $0.62 at Fanatical.
What Californium is
Californium is an adventure game developed by Darjeeling and released in 2016. It was published by ARTE France. It is available on Mac and PC (Microsoft Windows). It runs on Unity.
The premise, in the publisher's words
Berkeley, 1967. You are Elvin Green, a writer whose career is not better than his sentimental life. Besides, the day starts badly : your wife Thea left you a break up letter. As for Eddy, your editor, he summons you : "you are a writer who does not write" - you should find yourself another editor. Your world is falling apart. Too much acid and cheap booze ? Too many sleepless nights stuck to your typewriter, powerless to tackle your first novel ? Your poor mental health is collapsing. Luckily this nightmarish world is unstable, you can extract yourself from it and thus access another reality! You have nothing to lose!
How it plays
It is played from a first person perspective. Its themes are fantasy, historical and science fiction. It is a single-player game with no multiplayer component.
How it was received
Californium holds a critic score of 60 out of 100. That places it above 15% of the 7,525 rated adventure games in our database, which average 72. Games released in 2016 averaged 68, so it scored 8 points below the year average.
What it costs, and where
The cheapest verified price right now is $0.62 at Fanatical, 91% below its usual price.
What it launched against
Californium launched on 17 February 2016, within three weeks of Tom Clancy's The Division, Stardew Valley, Firewatch and SuperHot. All of them reviewed better.
Released around the same time: Tom Clancy's The Division, Stardew Valley, Firewatch, SuperHot.
Official trailer
Sourced from the publisher’s YouTube channel.
Screenshots
All media
Quick answers
Californium — frequently asked questions
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