THE WORLDS
SEPARATE STORIES. A SHARED DESTINATION.
Different worlds. One extraordinary journey.
Begin with strangers, scattered across distant worlds.
Their paths lead to a ship. What waits aboard is another mystery.
A free adventure is on its way. Explore the worlds while we prepare the demo.
MANY BEGINNINGS. ONE UNFOLDING MYSTERY.
The opening episodes tell separate stories, each introducing different people and another corner of the universe. Their paths converge on a ship, where those individual journeys become part of something larger.
Episode 1 begins with archaeologists Mira and Edric on Etera II. They’ll return later, but first you’ll meet others with discoveries, dangers and unanswered questions of their own.
THE JOURNEY, ONE EPISODE AT A TIME
The Part 1 demo is coming soon. The complete Episode 1 and later episodes are still ahead.
EPISODE 1 · PART 1DEMO · COMING SOON
Episode 1 — Part 1 — The Dig (Demo Build)
A preserved chamber. A sealed door. A new piece of evidence. Help Mira and Edric uncover what happened on Etera II in this first part of Forbidden Knowledge.
Free demo coming soon · Full Episode 1 to followIn a prehistoric tribe, survival depends on the next hunt. With winter closing in, Tol crosses Stone Peak with two fellow hunters to bring food home. Armed with spears, clubs and the knowledge of his people, he faces a wilderness—and a mystery—far beyond anything he understands.
A PREHISTORIC TRIBE. A HUNTER’S JOURNEY.
A legendary Black Ship waits above Celestia Sanctum. Its pilot has a departure order, a secretive mission, and seven passengers whose identities are unknown to him. As the first travelers arrive, casual questions become a contest of observation. The voyage hasn’t begun. The secrets have.
A PILOT. SEVEN UNKNOWN PASSENGERS.
Planned titles · Future episodes are not yet playable
An unfolding adventure. Later episodes are in development and are not yet playable.
A STORY WE CAN KEEP TELLING TOGETHER
The Dig demo is coming soon and will be free to play. Support options will open after the complete first episode is released. No purchases or preorders are available today.
We love point-and-click adventure games. We love getting lost in their worlds, puzzling over unlikely objects, and meeting people we remember long after the credits. We want to help keep this genre alive—and we are glad you are here with us.
The free Part 1 demo will introduce Mira and Edric’s expedition on Etera II.
Once the demo opens, you’ll be able to share feedback and tell us whether you plan to return.
After the complete Episode 1 is released, support options will help fund Episode 2.
THE NEXT CHAPTER NEEDS YOU
Thank you for visiting. We’re preparing the first expedition for you. Feedback and support preferences will open with the demo; buying will follow the complete first episode.
BEFORE YOU SET OFF
Your curiosity is all you need to start.
The Dig, the Part 1 demo of Episode 1, will be free to play when it opens. Support options will follow the complete episode’s release.
You can explore this website without an account. This online account test is for people aged 16 or older. Create an account and verify your email to prepare for future game features. Saved progress is not available on this website yet.
The game is not playable on this website yet. Episode 1 — Part 1 — The Dig will be the first demo to open. The complete episode and later adventures will follow.
Yes—it adapts the world and stories of the novel, with changes made for exploration and puzzles. You don’t need to read the book to play. Read the book on Amazon
When buying opens after the complete Episode 1 release, payments will go toward developing Episode 2. We love point-and-click adventures and want to help keep this genre alive. No payment is collected now.
EVERY JOURNEY HAS A FIRST CHAPTER.
The free Part 1 demo is being prepared for this website.
DOORS WITHOUT BUILDERS
The four Origin Worlds are linked by ancient portals that allow instantaneous travel. Their makers and operating principles remain unknown. Some believe life began there. Elysium Prime is one of them; their name describes a belief about life’s beginnings.
EIGHT KNOWN. A POSSIBLE NINTH.
Eight worlds were already known to bear evidence of the Desolation: destruction dating to 900,000–1,000,000 years ago. On Etera II, Mira and Edric investigate evidence that would make it the ninth. These are distinct from the four Origin Worlds. The cause of the Desolation remains unknown.
WHO CONTROLS THE WAY BETWEEN STARS?
The Church holds a monopoly on interstellar travel through faster-than-light technology and the Transport Shrines. Its Travel Ban puts journeys between star systems under Church authority. It is also the Galactic Council’s most powerful member, with decisive influence through its Arbiters.
THE GALAXY’S CROSSROADS
These orbital stations hold stable wormholes at the ends of their outstretched arms. They form the Galactic Transport System, with busy hubs offering more routes than remote worlds. The Church guards their workings. Travel is extraordinarily fast, but unlike Origin World portals, a Shrine journey still takes time.
A PASSAGE FEW WILL EVER SEE
Most interstellar travelers use Transport Shrines. Black Ships are a rare alternative within the Church’s travel monopoly, carrying other vessels through faster-than-light space. Their immense, almost featureless hulls conceal intricate machinery—and surprisingly little room for their passengers.
EVERY ARRIVAL BRINGS A STORY
Information travels aboard ships. A busy port may receive news every day; a remote world can wait weeks. What one world already knows, another may not yet have heard. Every arriving vessel can bring a discovery, a rumor, or a changed political reality.
TWO INSTITUTIONS. ONE WORLD.
At Celestia Sanctum, the Church’s imposing temple city shares a world with the Order’s Twilight City. They are separate institutions with different beliefs and roles. Pilgrims, officials and travelers meet here, bringing the galaxy’s faith and politics into close quarters.
CONFESSION AND TRANSCENDENCE
The Celestial Order of Confession and Transcendental Salvation teaches that true believers will be rescued by the Protectors during the End-and-Beginning. Separate from the Church, it calls its followers to confession. Its emblem is an orange sun against a black, star-filled sky.
MILLIONS OF JOURNEYS, EVERY YEAR
Each year, the Order’s believers travel to Celestia Sanctum to spend a night at the Altar of Confessions. Passage may be booked years ahead. The Pilgrimage fills ships and lengthens queues at Transport Shrines along the routes to the planet.
A NIGHT BEFORE THE PROTECTORS
On Twilight City’s outskirts, the Altar stretches for miles beneath a spire lost in the clouds. Pilgrims enter for the night, believing a voice or light will lead them to a room where they may confess to the Protectors.
THE LARGEST TERRITORY
The Eternal Reign of the Infinite Celestial Hegemony is the galaxy’s largest territorial faction. Its capital city, Nexus Ascendant, has dark stone towers and monumental fortresses. Once-conquering fleets now live within the peace enforced by the Church.
AN ANCIENT WORLD AT ITS HEART
A major galactic power centered on Elysium Prime, one of the Origin Worlds. The Church’s settlement of borders halted its expansion. Relations with its neighbor, the Quasarion Sigma Federation, remain strained by their history of conflict.
THE OTHER ESTABLISHED POWERS
The Trade Union and the Interplanetary Dominion Consortium are principal territorial powers with their own Origin Worlds. Alongside the Hegemony and Elysium Alliance, they form the four Origin World powers of the Galactic Council. The Church and Federation also hold membership.
SMALL IN TERRITORY. ADVANCED IN TECHNOLOGY.
The Galactic Council’s newest and smallest member lies between the Hegemony and the Elysium Alliance. Yet it is the most technologically advanced. Its place at the Council does not give it the influence enjoyed by the older powers.
No account is needed to play the demo. Use Save and Load in the game menu to keep your room, inventory and puzzle progress on your account. The ending also offers a Part 1 completion checkpoint.