Powerful, as always. You share the best poems, and it's a marvel to see how these little gameplay concepts (I'm also thinking of The indifferent wonder of an edible place in particular, which was my introduction to your work) are used artistically to convey sensations. The obtuse traversing, the two small figures, one present, one in spirit, but still there...
The visuals and the writting is astounding. I haven't played the other related games and luckily I haven't experienced this kind of opression first hand but the themes resonate with me as I am very much into activism and people I care about have been subject to similar situations.
The gameplay didn't click with me at first, it was confusing and at first it felt like i wasn't using logic to solve the puzzles, as the game went on however I started realizing that maybe that was the point. When I finally reached the last level I took a look at it and thought "huh? this feels like a tutorial level", then it hit me, the keys in the background, the simple exit, this was it! what seemed impossible was done, even in these horrible conditions people endure for what they believe in. That was how i interpreted it anyways, its hard to properly put what i felt into words tbh.
It all reminded me of something i do when I'm feeling down; there's this decoration in my room that constantly gets tied in ways that seem impossible to untie but, when i'm dissapointed at life and want to give up, I take a deep breath and start untying it, it's very therapeutic really.
Maybe it's better without it, only you would know, but if I was to suggest a QoL for a more "fun" oriented game, it would be to add an option that allows you to view how a side looks changed before going to the other side to change it as I found myself going from one side to the other just to figure out what to do. Honestly though, this small frustration may have added to the experience personally.
Thank you so much! I am glad that you enjoyed the game, and I really appreciate your detailed response to the work, it is wonderful to see the game evoke the kind of response that we were hoping it would.
And you are right - the obtuse puzzles are deliberate, and slowly untangling your path through them is the glimmer of hope that we were trying to articulate amidst the tedium and violence of detentions.
Also, I have been pondering how to make both sides of the labyrinth a bit more readable, the game in its original form was printed on paper with half the puzzle on the other side of the sheet, so that you would fold and unfold the maze as you solve it. While this hasn't translated perfectly into videogame form, there is a small clue toggle-button in the menu that creates guide points, if one is completely stuck on a particular level.
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Powerful, as always. You share the best poems, and it's a marvel to see how these little gameplay concepts (I'm also thinking of The indifferent wonder of an edible place in particular, which was my introduction to your work) are used artistically to convey sensations. The obtuse traversing, the two small figures, one present, one in spirit, but still there...
A bit different than your previous works but recognizable in style nontheless and a good experience to play.
interesting
I use a 32 bit Linux system.
Do you have a game for me?
No, I am afraid Unity no longer supports 32 bit Linux builds, and since the game is built in Unity, we are limited to 64 bit builds.
The visuals and the writting is astounding.
I haven't played the other related games and luckily I haven't experienced this kind of opression first hand but the themes resonate with me as I am very much into activism and people I care about have been subject to similar situations.
The gameplay didn't click with me at first, it was confusing and at first it felt like i wasn't using logic to solve the puzzles, as the game went on however I started realizing that maybe that was the point. When I finally reached the last level I took a look at it and thought "huh? this feels like a tutorial level", then it hit me, the keys in the background, the simple exit, this was it! what seemed impossible was done, even in these horrible conditions people endure for what they believe in. That was how i interpreted it anyways, its hard to properly put what i felt into words tbh.
It all reminded me of something i do when I'm feeling down; there's this decoration in my room that constantly gets tied in ways that seem impossible to untie but, when i'm dissapointed at life and want to give up, I take a deep breath and start untying it, it's very therapeutic really.
Maybe it's better without it, only you would know, but if I was to suggest a QoL for a more "fun" oriented game, it would be to add an option that allows you to view how a side looks changed before going to the other side to change it as I found myself going from one side to the other just to figure out what to do. Honestly though, this small frustration may have added to the experience personally.
Great game overal!!! Sorry for so much text
Thank you so much! I am glad that you enjoyed the game, and I really appreciate your detailed response to the work, it is wonderful to see the game evoke the kind of response that we were hoping it would.
And you are right - the obtuse puzzles are deliberate, and slowly untangling your path through them is the glimmer of hope that we were trying to articulate amidst the tedium and violence of detentions.
Also, I have been pondering how to make both sides of the labyrinth a bit more readable, the game in its original form was printed on paper with half the puzzle on the other side of the sheet, so that you would fold and unfold the maze as you solve it.
While this hasn't translated perfectly into videogame form, there is a small clue toggle-button in the menu that creates guide points, if one is completely stuck on a particular level.
Likewise thanks for the response, It makes sense it was originally a paper it's a very neat idea, I hadn't noticed the clue button I think