Your magic bubble can break apart ocean trash, dissolving the worst of it safely inside. Whatever it can’t hold floats gently up to the surface, where hopefully the world above does its part too. The tides are always moving, pushing trash into different corners of the reef every time, so there’s always somewhere new to look and something new to find. The reef is wide and worth exploring, and the more of it you see, the more it feels like somewhere worth taking care of. The village is still clean, the creatures there look after it together. But beyond that, trash has settled into everything, slowly wearing the ocean down. There’s only so much one dolphin can carry. But it’s a start.
Eight characters call this reef home, and every one of them has their own reason for staying close to the village. They have full storylines, hundreds of lines of unique dialogue, and more going on beneath the surface than they’ll let on at first. Spend time with them in their homes, help them out, find out about their favourite treasures, and their stories start to come out on their own. The reef is too big for one dolphin to clean alone, but it isn’t too big for friends. One by one, as the reef starts to breathe again and the creatures in it remember what it felt like before, your neighbours come back outside. And when they do, they swim alongside you proudly. Shimmer is a game about a small dolphin doing small things, and somehow that being enough.