The outdoorsy Eidolon is more stunning than actual nature

One of the best things about artistic expression on the Internet is that cool games come out of nowhere, like western Washington.

Actually we don’t know where Ice Water Games—the startup studio behind the misty, scenic Eidolon—is from, but the Pacific Northwest is the location for their game about venturing through computer-generated forests.

The game has sort of a Planet Earth vibe, but also reminds me of Proteus, with big blocky polygons representing towering hemlocks, and streaks of wan light glowing in the smoky distance. As I look out the window at the sunlight and realize that this is another day spent hunched over my keyboard, I can totally appreciate a game about getting back to nature.