Developers at California's Thatgamecompany attracted attention with 2006's aquatically themed web game fl0w, and then with 2009's Flower ("Flowery" in Japan), in which gusts of wind are used to transport petals through countryside and cityscapes.

Journey continues the relative abstraction of previous titles, ushering players through desert wilderness and abandoned ruins toward a mountain clothed in mystery, alone or with fellow nameless travelers met along the way.

It's been listed at $15 or ¥1,200, a price point which usually becomes £10 or €13 upon conversion for European users of the PlayStation Store.

Parallels can be drawn with the ICO and Shadow of the Colossus games, whose focus is on companionship and consequence as much as on traditional action sequences, and with others such as Tale of Tales' The Graveyard, Jason Rohrer's Passage and the recently re-released Dear Esther, touching on emotional content less frequently explored within the medium.