Yamaguchi, Japan-based indie developer Jacob Honda has announced CLASS 3, THIRD GRADE, a new 3D adventure game set in a nostalgic Japan setting.
CLASS 3, THIRD GRADE is in development for Windows PC (via Steam) with a release set for sometime in March 2025. The game will support Japanese and English languages.
“CLASS 3, THIRD GRADE is a work for the ‘ice age generation.'” said development team lead Makoto Nishizaki in a press release. “We created it for those who feel a lead weight in their stomach when they hear ‘end-of-day meeting.’ We hope you’ll experience the reality of the 80s children’s world, both heartwarming and cruel, while reminiscing about the suddenly vanished chicken in the school’s animal shed after summer vacation.”
Here’s a rundown on the game, plus a teaser trailer:
CLASS 3, THIRD GRADE is a nostalgic 3D first-person escape game where players aim to return to the real world from a dream world set in the 1980s, starting in a childhood bedroom. Players take on the role of the protagonist, a member of the ‘ice age generation,’ trying to escape to reality while tracing forgotten memories of the past.
Story
In a boring and unchanging ‘ordinary’ life, the protagonist ‘I’ begins to frequently dream of childhood. The elementary school days are so distant that there are no particular memories, and no reunion notices ever arrive.
One day, on an ordinary morning during the commute, ‘I’ mysteriously wanders into their childhood bedroom. It’s a world where the boundary between dream and reality is blurred. Memories of childhood, which have become vague and idyllic over the years, begin to regain their original clarity.
Amidst a mix of nostalgia and anxiety, ‘I’ is forced to confront their past. Can ‘I’ return to the real world from this labyrinth of memories? And how will this encounter with the past change ‘I’s’ life?
Features
- Nostalgic World: Play in a 3D space that faithfully recreates the atmosphere of an 80s child’s room.
- Memory-Unraveling Puzzles: Explore items and solve gimmicks while gradually recovering the protagonist’s memories, which will evoke players’ own childhood memories.
- Multiple Endings: Based on the player’s choices, one of four former classmates will appear in the ending. When all classmates are encountered, the truth about the protagonist is revealed.
