Lost Museum -Echoes of the Chromageists- is an upcoming adventure game about beings born from the emotions contained in paintings. As part of TGS 2026, we had a chance to interview producer Honoka Ohara to learn more about this intriguing idea.
The concept of the Chromageists, beings with faces based on paintings, is one of the most intriguing parts of Lost Museum. What inspired this idea?
The game originally grew out of an internal project proposal for a game centered around an art museum. At the time, we were inspired by the appeal of museums and art exhibitions in Tokyo, but we also realized that many people don’t have many opportunities to experience art firsthand. We wanted to find a way to introduce people to that appeal through games.
That idea led to the creation of the “Kaigami,” beings inspired by famous works of art. We’ve reimagined them as characters, incorporating not only the paintings themselves, but also the artists who created them, the historical periods they came from, and the stories surrounding each work.
Through the Kaigami, we hope players will be able to feel a little closer to the world of art and discover the appeal of paintings for themselves.
How did you approach the artistic angle of taking famous paintings and turning them into characters?
We believe that paintings can be interpreted very differently depending on who is looking at them. To express that multifaceted nature, we felt we needed an approach beyond simply turning paintings into human characters, which led us to the faceless “grotesque head” character designs.
There’s also a more personal reason behind the concept: I’ve always liked this type of character design, and I had a personal desire to play an adventure game centered around characters with unusual, non-human heads.
When developing the character designs, we worked closely with the designers at our development studio to incorporate not only our impressions of each painting, but also its historical context, the artist’s life, and stories or anecdotes associated with the work. We hope the characters are enjoyable simply for their appearance, but that players who learn about the history and background of the original paintings will be able to appreciate the character designs on a deeper level as well.
The game’s description describes using the power of deduction to restore the Chromageists’ lost memories. What does this mean for gameplay?
Players take on the role of the protagonist, Vince, and explore the museum while tracing the lost memories of the Kaigami. As they investigate, they gather clues and try to deduce the personality and nature of each Kaigami, gradually getting closer to the truth behind their lost memories.
The process of recovering their memories involves not only deduction, but also puzzle elements. We want players to experience the story from Vince’s perspective, deepening their understanding of both the Kaigami and the paintings they were based on as they uncover the truth.
Adventure games come in many varieties. Would you describe Lost Museum as being more focused on puzzle-solving or narrative?
At its core, Lost Museum -Echoes of the Chromageists- is a story-driven experience. As players trace the memories of the Kaigami, we want them to discover the history and emotions behind the paintings that inspired them.
There are certainly elements of exploration and deduction, but we also want the game to be accessible to people who don’t normally play games, as well as those who have an interest in art and painting. Rather than having players get stuck on difficult puzzles, our goal is to create an experience where they can naturally progress through the game while focusing on and enjoying the story.
Finally, if there’s one thing you want to make sure our readers know about Lost Museum -Echoes of the Chromageists-, what is it?
Lost Museum -Echoes of the Chromageists- is the first completely original title developed as part of the Happinet Indie Collection. We’ve brought a wide variety of indie games from Japan and overseas to players in the past, but this project represents a new challenge for us, as we’ve been involved with it from the planning stage onward.
There’s been a lot of trial and error along the way, as this is a new experience for us, but we’re developing the game with all of our passion for both adventure games and art. We hope to create something that will appeal to both fans of art and fans of adventure games, so please look forward to hearing more about Lost Museum -Echoes of the Chromageists-.
Lost Museum -Echoes of the Chromageists- is due out in the second quarter of 2027.
