Sable Videogame Blends Brutalist Architecture with Post-Anthropocene Salvagepunk Narrative

Sable (2021), developed by Shedworks, is an open-world exploration game set on a desert planet named Midden. Its inspirations include Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984). The game’s architectural elements draw from Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House, Minoru Nomata's towers, and Paolo Soleri's Arcosanti. Players navigate using hoverbikes, uncovering ancient ruins and starships named after brutalist structures in London, referred to as ancient 'Whales' that contain holographic AIs such as SARIN. The in-game currency, 'Cuts,' is crafted from spaceship metal, while machinists like Sizo repair items. The game explores a post-Anthropocene world with salvagepunk themes, featuring an original soundtrack by Japanese Breakfast.