One of the goals for the studio was to 'show what it was like exploring New Caledonia' when the two were still kids. In particular, Kanak culture was a major source of inspiration for the team. The setting of the game is fictional it was heavily inspired by New Caledonia, a Pacific nation where the founders of Aweceb, Thierry Boura and Phil Crifo, grew up. Tchia was developed by a team of 12 people in Awaceb, an independent game studio based in Montréal, QC. The team travelled to the island of Lifou, New Caledonia to conduct research for the game and recruit voice talents. Tchia's appearance, as well as her glider and her raft, can be extensively customized. These gameplay sequences are completely skippable. Players can play 'Soul-Melodies', which allows Tchia to perform feats such as summoning animals for soul jumping, altering the time of day, or changing the in-game weather. Tchia features elements from rhythm games, as players can play Tchia's ukelele at will. Through exploration, players will discover different points of interest, minigames, and chests with cosmetic items, meet other non-playable characters, and complete side quests. Tchia is highly acrobatic, as she can quickly slide down a mountain, climb up trees and use it to catapult herself across the canopy, and ascend nearly all types of surfaces.

She is equipped with a glider and a raft which allows her to navigate between places quickly. Tchia can explore the archipelago in her human form. According to developer Phil Crifo, players can soul jump to more than 30 animals and 'hundreds of' objects.

For instance, by soul jumping to a dog, players can use its ability to dig to dig out treasure maps. Tchia has the ability of 'soul jumping', which allows her to possess and assume control of animals and inanimate objects found in the world, and uses their power to travel to new areas, solve puzzles, and defend herself against opponents. The player assumes control of the titular protagonist, who must explore a tropical archipelago to rescue her kidnapped father.

Tchia is an action-adventure video game played from a third-person perspective. A gameplay screenshot of the Tchia, showing the titular character exploring the archipelago through sailing on a raft.

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