The Neverhood

The Neverhood, Inc.

Company type	Private
Industry	Video game development
Founded	1995
Founder	Doug TenNapel
Headquarters	United States
Products	The Neverhood, Skullmonkeys, Armikrog

The Neverhood (known in Japan as Klaymen Klaymen: The Mystery of Neverhood) is a 1996 point-and-click adventure title developed by The Neverhood, Inc. and released by DreamWorks Interactive for Microsoft Windows. The narrative follows Klaymen, a clay-animated protagonist, as he embarks on a journey to discover his origins within a world crafted entirely from clay. Distinguished by its exclusive use of claymation for all animations and environments, the game stood apart from contemporaries. Gameplay revolves around directing Klaymen through puzzle challenges to advance the storyline, complemented by video segments that deepen the plot. The game is notable for its offbeat humor, evident in its characters, soundtrack, and narrative style. It garnered a dedicated fanbase and was succeeded by the 1998 sequel Skullmonkeys, which transitioned into a platformer genre. Subsequently, Armikrog, a spiritual successor created by many original developers, was launched.

Gameplay

The Neverhood emphasizes puzzle-solving through interaction with characters and surroundings rather than relying heavily on inventory mechanics. Progression depends largely on utilizing the environment effectively, with only limited inventory involvement. Certain choices may result in game over scenarios that require players to reload from their most recent save point.

Plot

Set in a surreal realm suspended above an abyss, the Neverhood is inhabited solely by Klaymen (the main character), his simple-minded aide Willie Trombone, the antagonist Klogg—a distorted version of Klaymen—and various creatures including hostile 'weasels'. Extensive lore is uncovered through the detailed 'Hall Of Records'.

The story begins with Klaymen awakening and exploring this clay world, gathering discs that contain fragmented narratives narrated by Willie through terminals. Willie offers occasional assistance while Klogg monitors their actions covertly. Klaymen's journey leads him to Klogg’s fortress where he enlists the help of Big Robot Bil—a massive automaton and friend of Willie. Bil confronts and defeats Klogg’s guardian known as the Clockwork Beast but sustains severe injuries from Klogg’s cannon fire. Although Bil manages to open the castle gates, he falls into the abyss along with Willie.

Inside the castle, Klaymen discovers Willie's last disc revealing that Hoborg, a godlike creator figure, constructed the Neverhood seeking happiness. Hoborg fashioned Klogg as a companion; however, Klogg stole Hoborg’s crown, disfiguring himself and rendering Hoborg inactive, halting further creation within the Neverhood. Willie and Bil—creations of Hoborg’s brother Ottoborg—learned that Hoborg intended to create another companion. Willie secretly planted this new life form far from Klogg, which grew into Klaymen.

Willie provides Klaymen with a key to the throne room via terminal access and urges him to face Klogg. Within the throne room, Klogg attempts to sway Klaymen by offering Hoborg’s crown. The player then has two options:

• Accept the crown—Klaymen becomes deformed and crowned like Klogg, defeats him, and assumes control.
• Restore Hoborg—Klaymen places the crown on Hoborg’s head, reviving him. Inadvertently, Klogg blasts himself into the abyss. Hoborg resumes creating within the Neverhood and commands a celebration before using his powers to rescue Willie and Bil, concluding with "Man, things are good".

Development

The concept of a plasticine universe was originated by Doug TenNapel in 1988, during which he crafted approximately 17 clay models. Discontent with David Perry's leadership at Shiny Entertainment, TenNapel departed in 1995 and soon after revealed at E3 the establishment of his own studio, The Neverhood, Inc., composed of former developers from Earthworm Jim. DreamWorks Interactive, a new venture by Steven Spielberg, was searching for groundbreaking ideas, prompting TenNapel to propose a claymation-based game, which received Spielberg's endorsement for publication. The Neverhood, Inc. collaborated with DreamWorks Interactive and Microsoft to create the title, employing over three tons of clay to design characters and environments. It was introduced at E3 1996 under the name The Neverhood: A Curious Wad of Klay Finds His Soul.

Following a year-long development phase, The Neverhood was released in 1996. It stood out as the first stop-motion project to harness consumer digital cameras professionally, utilizing beta versions of the Minolta RD-175.

Soundtrack

The game's music, composed and performed by Daniel Amos frontman Terry Scott Taylor, received the "Best Game Music of the Year" accolade from GMR magazine. Esteemed composer Bill Brown, noted for his work on Tom Clancy titles, lauded it as "the finest among video game soundtracks."

Ports and legacy

A PlayStation adaptation named Klaymen Klaymen: The Mystery of the Neverhood launched exclusively in Japan, incorporating minor alterations such as extended loading times and omission of The Hall of Records section. Similarly, the Japanese edition of Skullmonkeys was retitled as Klaymen Klaymen 2.

In June 2011, original team members announced ongoing discussions to secure exclusive rights for re-releasing The Neverhood on contemporary platforms like iPhone, iPad, Android devices, and Windows Phones.

With official updates and support for modern operating systems and hardware discontinued, enthusiasts initiated the "Neverhood restoration project" in 2013 aimed at developing compatibility patches.

On July 21, 2014, ScummVM version 1.7.0 incorporated support for The Neverhood, allowing it to operate across various platforms including Linux, OS X, Windows, and Android.

Sales

Despite receiving positive critical reviews, The Neverhood experienced poor commercial performance. By early 1997, sales were sluggish and the title was scarcely available in major retail outlets like Target. By August 1997, U.S. sales totaled approximately 37,000 units and increased modestly to 41,073 by April 1999—a number regarded as disappointing by industry analysts.

Ultimately, total sales surpassed 50,000 copies. Moreover, hundreds of thousands of OEM copies were pre-installed on Gateway computers, substantially broadening its reach. The game also developed a significant following in Russia and Iran through widespread bootleg distribution on pre-installed machines.

Critical reviews

A reviewer from Next Generation commended the distinctive visual style and graphical execution but criticized the puzzles for being uninspired and the pacing as slow. GameSpot praised the appealing visuals but found the puzzles excessively challenging and frustrating, noting that "Clues are so abstract they will lead you to despair." In contrast, GamePro acknowledged some confusing puzzles but did not consider any overly obscure; they emphasized graphics and character charm as primary strengths. The PlayStation version received a score of 29 out of 40 from Weekly Famitsu.

In 1996, The Neverhood garnered multiple awards including Best Adventure Game from both Computer Games Strategy Plus and CNET Gamecenter. It was nominated for Gamecenter’s overall "Game of the Year," which was ultimately awarded to Quake, with editors praising it as a landmark within its genre. The game also received the "Special Award for Artistic Achievement" from Computer Gaming World, which described it as "the coolest-looking game of the year." Although nominated for the Computer Game Developers Conference's "Best Animation" Spotlight Award, it lost to Tomb Raider. Additionally, in 1997 Animation Magazine's World Animation Celebration honored it as "Best Animation Produced for Game Platforms."

In 2011, Adventure Gamers ranked The Neverhood as the 35th greatest adventure game ever made.

Sequels

In 1998, a sequel titled Skullmonkeys was released for the PlayStation. Unlike its predecessor’s point-and-click adventure style, this installment was a platform game.

Subsequently, a Japan-exclusive PlayStation title called Klaymen Gun-Hockey was developed by Riverhillsoft, who published the Neverhood series in Japan. Although featuring characters from The Neverhood universe, it was not created by the original team and departed from the trademark Claymation aesthetic by focusing on gun-based air hockey gameplay.

Klaymen also appears as a hidden playable character in the PlayStation game BoomBots, developed by The Neverhood, Inc.

On March 12, 2013, creator Doug TenNapel announced collaboration with former artists from Neverhood and Earthworm Jim, Ed Schofield and Mike Dietz of Pencil Test Studios, to develop a new clay and stop-motion animated point-and-click adventure. While not a direct sequel, this project retained TenNapel's signature artistic style and humor along with an original soundtrack by Terry Scott Taylor. The resulting game, titled Armikrog, launched on September 30, 2015.

Return to the Neverhood

In 2012, original creators released a musical novel named Return to the Neverhood. Both its narrative and soundtrack were crafted by Terry Scott Taylor, complemented by illustrations from Doug TenNapel.

Cancelled film

On June 25, 2007, it was reported by Variety that Frederator Films planned to produce a claymation feature film adaptation of The Neverhood, with creator Doug TenNapel attached as writer and director. However, due to inadequate funding, this project was ultimately abandoned.

External links

• Archived official website
• Hardcore Gaming 101: Neverhood / Klaymen Klaymen overview
• Neverhood TV fan site
• Comprehensive Neverhood information