Planet Alpha is a ‘spectacle platformer’ built from the same mould as retro classic Another World. That means it constantly distracts you from the action in the foreground with alien beauty and visual storytelling in the background. It could not be more different than the game Adrian Lazar was working on when he conceived the idea - Hitman: Absolution.

“I lost interest in the games that were in fashion back then,” the Planet Alpha creative director tells us. “I wanted to make something that was a bit different from just killing people constantly.”

Following through hasn’t been as straightforward. Making a game that isn’t about murder is, it turns out, a process of continual unlearning.

Breaking bad habits

“Don’t get me started,” Lazar laughs. I asked him whether his team had to scrap any mechanics because they got in the way of Planet Alpha’s palpable sense of wonder.