Sega and Double Fine have teamed up to create a fun-looking puzzle-platforming game called The Cave. The companies officially announced the game today, and have released a launch trailer which demonstrates the game’s quirky aesthetic. The game combines elements of platforming, exploration, teamwork between multiple characters, puzzle-solving, and various genre references. It also has dragons.

According to Kirk Hamilton over at Kotaku, who got a hands-on with the game, players will choose three characters from a larger cast of seven and take them on a journey through a large cave packed with symbolism and nooks to explore. Hamilton compares the exploration aspects of the game to the 2-d Metroid and Castlevania games. The characters each have different powers, meaning that multiple play-throughs with different party make-ups will reveal different portions of the cave. From Kotaku:

Each character will have one unique ability, and that ability will come in handy in each character’s one designated section of the cave. See, the cave is one giant map—it’s seamless, and from the area where characters choose their characters onwards, there won’t be any breaks or loading screens.

The game is scheduled, like so many recently announced or delayed games, for release in early 2013. The game will be available for download on the Xbox Live Arcade, the PlayStation Network, or on PC.

(via Kotaku)