Californium
Taking the form of a first-person experience of a bad trip, Californium pays homage to sci-fi legend Philip K. Dick by transporting you into the life of a writer searching for his own identity. Explore, solve the riddles and conduct your investigation. Will you find what’s behind the simulacra ?
Developer
Publisher
Release
February 17, 2016
10 years and 169 days ago
Steam Reviews
Mostly Positive408 reviews70.3%
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Game contextLatest: IGF Team
| ContextThe evidence factors used to assess whether this game belongs on IndieGame.Fan. | Status | Notes Latest Contributor: IGF TeamEdit notes |
|---|---|---|
Updated: Jul 13, 2026Developer scaleThe operating scale of the game's developer. | The listed developer is publicly traded or part of a corporate group. | |
Updated: Jul 13, 2026Publisher scaleThe operating scale of the game's publisher. | The listed publisher is publicly traded or part of a corporate group. | |
Updated: Jul 13, 2026Publisher statusHow the game's publishing relationship is classified. | The listed publisher is publicly traded or part of a corporate group. | |
Updated: Jul 13, 2026Release statusWhether and how the game has been released. |
Media
13 itemsAbout the Game
Taking the form of wacky shenanigans and a first-person experience of a bad trip, Californium pays homage to sci-fi legend Philip K. Dick (Blade Runner, Minority Report, Total Recall, The Man in the High Castle, etc.) by transporting you into the life of a writer who is searching for his own identity. Will you find what’s behind the simulacra ?
Berkeley, 1967. Experience the perils of coming down off acid, a post-breakup bout of depression, and the anguish of a dying career: Welcome to the life of Elvin Green, a science fiction writer in deep distress. Get ready for a sensory trip that will derail your sense of reality and replace it with powerful hallucinations. You spend your time and money on drugs and cheap alcohol, and are plagued by insomnia and struggles with blank page syndrome. Vague memories of your wife Thea and your editor Don bleed into each other. Everything you thought was real starts to crumble.
It would be so simple to give in to the promises of alternate realities, each one more attractive than the next… Will you let these ever-present voices take control of your mind?
Californium plunges you into a psychedelic world, leaving you searching for glitches in the matrix.
Darjeeling, Nova Production and ARTE France are proud to present this downright love letter to the world of Philip K. Dick. Experience counterintuitive art direction by Olivier Bonhomme (Homo Machina), an exhilarating soundtrack by Xavier Thiry, and an incredible performance by actor Paul Bandey in the part of the mysterious Theta.
Berkeley, 1967. Experience the perils of coming down off acid, a post-breakup bout of depression, and the anguish of a dying career: Welcome to the life of Elvin Green, a science fiction writer in deep distress. Get ready for a sensory trip that will derail your sense of reality and replace it with powerful hallucinations. You spend your time and money on drugs and cheap alcohol, and are plagued by insomnia and struggles with blank page syndrome. Vague memories of your wife Thea and your editor Don bleed into each other. Everything you thought was real starts to crumble.
It would be so simple to give in to the promises of alternate realities, each one more attractive than the next… Will you let these ever-present voices take control of your mind?
Californium plunges you into a psychedelic world, leaving you searching for glitches in the matrix.
Darjeeling, Nova Production and ARTE France are proud to present this downright love letter to the world of Philip K. Dick. Experience counterintuitive art direction by Olivier Bonhomme (Homo Machina), an exhilarating soundtrack by Xavier Thiry, and an incredible performance by actor Paul Bandey in the part of the mysterious Theta.
