Lead a Marionette Through a Grim Fairy Tale World in A Juggler’s Tale

A Juggler’s Tale is a cinematic puzzle platformer that takes players into the world of a puppet theater play that they both watch and act in. A world that is both beautiful and sinister, and draws inspiration from the tone and mood of traditional fairy tales.

You play as Abby, the marionette, who tries to find her way to freedom from all the strings attached. A little juggler held captive by the circus, Abby entertains the crowds by day and spends her nights dreaming of freedom. At last, Abby manages to escape — but she soon learns that the wider world has dangers of its own.

Abby’s story is lyrically narrated by the puppetmaster Jack, who might have his own agenda… The puppet strings visually represent the strong connection between storyteller and puppet, while also offering unique puzzle mechanics.

A Juggler’s Tale is developed by kaleidoscube, a student start-up from Germany: Dominik Schön, Enzio Probst and Steffen Oberle, the founding members of kaleidoscube, met while studying Animation and Interactive Media at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, and were later joined by Elias Kremer, another fellow student. They quickly found out that they shared a passion for video games, especially the ones focused on storytelling and creating a dense atmosphere, and teamed up to start working on A Juggler’s Tale while still studying. 

The idea behind the game was to link modern digital gaming culture with traditional theater and poetry. The long tradition of German poetry and drama as well as the darker side of its fairy tales and legends were major inspirations for the setting and story.

The team finished the production in 2021 as their graduation project during their final year of university and now A Juggler’s Tale is finally available on the Xbox Store!

A Juggler's Tale

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A Juggler’s Tale is a cinematic puzzle-platformer. Play as Abby, the marionette, and make your way through a medieval fairy tale world to find freedom. Use the puppet’s strings in unique puzzles, find your way around obstacles, and evade the relentless cut-throats that are hot on your heels – while the puppet master holds the strings firmly in his hands. STORY "Ladies and Gentlemen! Come in, come in! In the mood for a story, are we?" Abby is an artiste held captive at a circus: She spends her days entertaining the audience and her nights in a cage, longing for freedom. One day, she escapes the circus and gets to explore a mystical world. Alas, freedom comes at a cost and Abby soon finds herself dragged into the dangers this world has to offer: In a war-torn, medieval fairy tale, surrounded by ravaged, starving citizens and hunted by the relentless cut-throat Tonda, Abby has to cross raging rivers, make it through bandit camps and around traps. Her adventure is always accompanied by the lyrical rhymes of puppet master Jack, who tells her story while holding the strings of his puppets firmly in his ever-helpful hands. Who can Abby trust? Can she find a way to truly break free? Despite dangling from her threads, will Abby learn that she can still influence her destiny? "Abby, Abby… Don't you see, the threads holding you up – also hold you back."

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