Where The Water Tastes Like Wine Is Set For Release This Month


Promising a story about stories, the indie game Where the Water Tastes Like Wine sees players on the road across a dusty America, meeting fellow vagabonds with something to say.

Today, Good Shepherd Entertainment announced that the game will arrive on February 28th for PC, Mac and Linux. It will retail for about $20, give or take a few dollars depending on your Steam region. A special 'Wayfarer' edition will also be sold for a few bucks more which includes a digital art book and thegame's soundtrack by Ryan Ike.

Given the central role that the folk soundtrack plays in the game's identity, that soundtrack is probably worth the price of admission, moreso for you audiophiles. Creative director Johnnemann Nordhagen said that the title of the game "comes from a song, but really it comes from a whole tradition of songs."

"The earliest known version of the song was recorded in 1924, and doesn't include the 'where the water tastes like wine' lyric," Nordhagen told Engadget. "Other musicians added that later, as they took the song and changed it or molded it into new forms. And that's one of the major themes of the game -- this history of folk culture, of sharing ideas and adding your own take."

"It's hard to understand, in our current copyright regime, what sharing music and stories used to look like," Nordhagen added. The game doubles down on this by featuring different stories written by different authors such as former games journalist Leigh Alexander, Campo Santo Quarterly editor Duncan Fyfe, Rock Paper Shotgun alumni Cara Ellison and Waypoint boss Austin Walker. 

Where the Water Tastes Like Wine also made waves earlier this year when legendary musician Sting was announced to be part of the game's extensive voice cast.