The incredibly weird Popol Maya

[Megazao]

Some time ago a game called Popol Maya was uploaded to the repo, and I was immediatedly caught by its weird but cool cover and the screenshots. The game is truly just as weird as it seems, but (understandably) has close to no information about it online.

So I was playing it today and actually having a lot of fun figuring out how it works, until I didn't. Everything in it is cryptic by design, but when I have all verbs I can think of for the world I selected and I still have two creatures and three bosses(?) I have no idea how to interact with, I got really frustrated.

With that in mind, I come here to ask if anybody has played/is playing/plans to play this, so we can share our knowledge and beat this fever dream together. It's kind of a long shot even for this forum's standards, but my other option would be contacting the owner of a website that talked about the game in 2017, so... lol.

 

[dropsmegamega]

I am very interested in playing it, but does it require to know japanese? If not, I could start playing it tonight.

 

[MakotoTheGray]

Interesting game, I'll definitely have a look into it. It reminds me, for some reason, of another weird game.

 

[Megazao]

I am very interested in playing it, but does it require to know japanese? If not, I could start playing it tonight.

No, it's completely in english! Also aside from the text in the intro, the only other use of language is when you input verbs

Interesting game, I'll definitely have a look into it. It reminds me, for some reason, of another weird game.

View attachment 20688

This one was uploaded to the repo around the same time and it's one I want to play in the future too

 

[Strategist's icon Strategist Strategist]

Weird. Does it have anything to do with Mayan culture or is it just a random title? What genre is the game?

 

[Megazao]

Weird. Does it have anything to do with Mayan culture or is it just a random title? What genre is the game?

It's supposedly based on something in their culture, but the two screens of text that explain that in the beginning are poorly translated and/or confusing, so I don't know if the devs were serious about it.
The game is a classic adventure, so you need to walk around the screens interacting with weird animals by typing verbs. Things happen and you're supposed to figure out what they are/mean since the game doesn't use words.

 

[dropsmegamega]

Super esoteric game indeed. Played a bit, currently stuck in the earth/forest world, I have yet to figure out a lot of things, but I am enjoying it.

There seems to be a huge video about popol maya that includes a full guide on youtube:

but I am going to try figuring out things for myself until I can't progress anymore

 

[Megazao]

Super esoteric game indeed. Played a bit, currently stuck in the earth/forest world, I have yet to figure out a lot of things, but I am enjoying it.

There seems to be a huge video about popol maya that includes a full guide on youtube:

but I am going to try figuring out things for myself until I can't progress anymore

Wait, it does?? I skimmed the video but I thought it was just talking about the game's inspiration, didn't notice it included a guide. That would help me a lot, since I'm also stuck in the forest world. Thanks for pointing that out!

 

[dropsmegamega]

Did you finish it? It was quite a good experience except for the bosses which I had to keep spamming everything and praying it somehow works. I think I must have missed a few animals though.