Total Reload

Total Reload is a spatial puzzle game set inside a vast mechanism built as an experiment on the Universe. You control HAWKING, a lonely resident who is an artificial intelligence, and solve puzzles by changing the fundamental laws of physics to activate the mechanism’s systems and begin a process called Total Reload.

Explore the mechanism

The world consists of many locations connected by Quantum Transporters, devices that allow fast travel. Each location has different energy sources that you must combine into a single network using the transporters. Some sources are hard to reach, so you use wires to temporarily power objects such as moving platforms, sensor grids, energy filters and closed doors. Supplying power in this way can open routes to previously inaccessible places.

Communicate with HAWKING

You control HAWKING’s body while its mind remains independent and realizes that someone else is controlling it. At certain moments, the AI communicates through text comments on screen. In some locations, you can scan special symbols in different sequences to form questions for the AI.

Story and themes

The story concerns loneliness, difficult challenges set for oneself and the search for absolute universal knowledge. Beneath its science-fiction setting, it serves as a metaphorical narrative about the developers working alone to complete a difficult task and overcome intellectual obstacles. The game also references real-life works, including songs by the rock band Muse and a book by Robert Heinlein. A playthrough lasts about 10 hours.