Ambroise Niflette and the Gleaned Bell: James and the Giant Peach as a video game, and we've been waiting since 1996

Some games you stumble onto at one in the morning browsing Steam without particular reason, add to the wishlist half-asleep, and stay in your head for days. Ambroise Niflette and the Gleaned Bell is exactly that kind of game. Except now we can't sleep at all.

Context

Ambroise Niflette and the Gleaned Bell is an independent adventure game whose demo is currently available for free on Steam. The full game release date hasn't been specified yet. The game runs on PC and Steam Deck, with a potential console version still to be confirmed.

The studio is small, probably very small judging by the visual coherence of the whole. This level of aesthetic mastery generally doesn't come from delegation.

What we know

The first thing that strikes you when launching the demo is that the game looks like an animated physical diorama. Not "inspired by". Not "in the style of". It looks like handmade sets, built from clay and fabric, photographed frame by frame, like in Nick Park's films or Henry Selick's work on James and the Giant Peach. The first time you see Ambroise move, you manually check whether you didn't accidentally load an animation film miscategorized on Steam.

It's not a film. It's a game. And the technique behind this illusion is remarkable: every animation is fluid and has that grain, that slight organic trembling specific to stop motion. The sets have a depth of field calculated to reinforce the miniature impression. The characters are built with an attention to detail that far exceeds what this type of production usually offers.

The general atmosphere recalls Christmas evenings with Wallace and Gromit: a particular warmth, a discreet humor in every corner, characters with faces so expressive and well written that you become attached without realizing how it happened. The name "Ambroise Niflette" says everything you need to know about the register chosen: poetic, slightly absurd, comfortable as an old sweater.

The narrative centers on an adventure with point-and-click mechanics. Without spoiling the demo's content, the tone is right: neither saccharine, nor condescending, nor pretentious. It fully assumes its cosy side and exploits it intelligently.

The soundtrack completes the whole: the audio effects have that same care for small details, and the music establishes an atmosphere without ever cluttering it.

What worries us

The Steam Deck controls are the only real drawback of the demo. Trackpad management as a mouse replacement isn't intuitive at all at first: the gestures don't respond as expected, the learning curve is steep for what should be an immediate pick-up. On PC with a mouse, the problem doesn't arise. But a part of this game's audience plays precisely on Steam Deck, lying on the sofa, and greeting them with five minutes of frustration is a mistake that costs negative reviews.

Once you've understood the control logic, it works fine. The game doesn't punish your imprecision, the rhythm is gentle enough to absorb mistakes. But "it works once you understand" isn't an excuse for a missed first impression.

The other unknown remains the length and depth of the full game. The demo is promising but short. If the final adventure turns out too light in content for its price, the visual magic won't compensate.

Conclusion

Ambroise Niflette and the Gleaned Bell is one of the hardest previews to write: hard to stay analytical when you just want to show screenshots to everyone while shouting. The art direction is in a category of its own, the narrative tone is exactly where it needed to be, and the demo gives enough to understand that the full game could be something significant in the genre.

The Steam Deck controls need fixing before release. That's the only concrete warning signal.

For everything else: free demo on Steam, no excuse for not having tried it before the end of the day.