Symphonia is a colorful 2D platformer in which the player takes on the role of Beethoven-like sprite, Philemon, a violinist who seeks to restore music to a fallen realm.

Music is a source of great power in Symphonia. Philemon embarks on a nonviolent quest to gather musicians scattered across the world, using his violin music to activate locked doors and to bounce and catapult across obstacles. Music makes this world work, and Philemon's ultimate goal is to form an orchestra that can bring life back into the entire land.

The world of Symphonia is beautifully rendered, a fantasy where clockwork machinery clicks into place under the command of Philemon's music. It feels like a love-letter to Belle Époque Paris—to lush gardens and majestic transit stations. Light, shadow, and the metronomic whirl of gears create a sense of depth. Platforms and obstacles are mastered with precision jumping, wall-sliding, and puzzle-solving.

The game was developed by Sunny Peak, a new French studio formed in 2021 by a group of one-time game development students. Prior to the studio's official founding, they originally formed a group in October of 2019, working on a project of the same name while in college together.

"We all have different expertises," explains Sunny Peak's President and Game Designer Simon Larguier. "Game design, game art, programming, music and sound. Because we wanted to create a universe with a strong identity, we developed very early our own method of creative brainstorming that allowed anyone to come up with new directions and 'What ifs?'"

The team's esprit de corps helped maintain a consistent creative vision, with room to innovate along the way. "Working together as students definitely helped us create strong bonds and become really invested in the creative aspects of building games together," he adds. "We’re not just colleagues in someone else’s company, but former school partners who ended up founding a studio together."

The team was always committed to making a "precision platformer." Larguier says Symphonia's gameplay was inspired by acclaimed platformers such as The End is Nigh, DuckTales, and Celeste.

The musical theme came later, though. "We knew that we were going to make a 2D platforming game where we could wield a tool to bounce around and catapult ourselves," recalls Larguier. "At first we went for a spear, but we realized that it implied that we were making a game with combat. As designers, we wanted to make a precision-platformer, not an action-platformer. So we looked for another tool, and someone proposed a musical instrument—a violin bow."

The team quickly agreed that this idea felt original, and might open creative doors. "When the musical theme came up, we understood that this association of ideas had a promising future if we went all-in."

Symphonia's violin works both as a source of music and as a physical object. "[The violin bow] is basically a long, sharp, and flexible stick. Needless to say, please, don’t try this at home—your bow will not like it," says Larguier, laughing.

Even though the violin is at the center of Symphonia, the story unfolds around the rest of the symphony. The musicians who Philemon gathers along the way play different kinds of instruments—strings, brass, etc.—which informed broader elements in Symphonia's world, such as the art, architecture, and gameplay. Precision machinery echoes the theme of a great symphony playing in harmony, with baroque and art nouveau architecture adding to the sense of coherence.

Of course, music is ever-present. "Our most important references in terms of music are the Romantic period of classical music—Dvorak, Schubert, and Tchaikovsky—as well as some film music references like Harry Potter, and even a bit of very old Disney-animated short movies."

Much of Symphonia's story is told without dialog. "We made sure to conceptualize very early the different types of musical instruments that would be represented or hinted at for each area in the game," says Larguier.

"We decided to tell most of the story without using words, so that meant creating little cutscenes taking place in different areas of the game. It was our first time creating this type of cutscene, so that was also a challenge. But in the end we really think it fits the identity of the game to stay away from dialog and embrace the music-to-image method."

One of the team's biggest challenges was combining and harmonizing Symphonia's musical score and musical gameplay. Sunny Peak partnered with Scoring Productions, a French company that specializes in orchestra recording, bringing them on as an executive producer.

"This meant that we could focus on the creative aspects of the work, while they helped us for all logistical and organizational aspects," explains Larguier. "It still took a lot of effort and discussion with many partners, but it really helped us achieve a great musical quality."

Larguier says Symphonia will appeal to both precision platforming fans and those who enjoy a more artistic experience. "I hope that players will connect with both aspects of Symphonia—the flow of playing through a hard level and the relaxing journey across a musical realm. However, I also hope that people will find new ways to enjoy the game that we had not anticipated, and will link the game to their own references."

Symphonia launches on December 5 on the Epic Games Store.