Dec, 2023

Gamedev, Game design

<aside> 📒 Very cool puzzle game about deducing the meaning behind unknown languages

</aside>

Playthrough

• A Tower of Babel-inspired setting of a great city. Multiple casts/ethnicities that speak different languages, which you crack by observing the interactions and deciphering local Rosetta stones
  • Devotees (peasants, the lowest cast) came after the drought to seek help. They use double glyphs to indicate plurality and any building is like a box with smaller symbol insight
  • Warriors were seafarers who came to the music of Chosen Ones, built the city, and serve them, protecting against Impure (who are devilish). They also know a bit about astronomy, as four of the symbols were stylized constellations!
  • There are link stations that allow communication between groups of people and you translate for them. There's a cute interaction between servants of the Bards who talk to Devotees about wanting freedom from servitude
  • It's interesting how warriors see Devotees as impure and Bards as chosen - and how Bards call Warriors "idiots"
  • The trackback was fun
  • The ending was anticlimactic
    • Ah, it was a fakeout ending, with extra puzzles that I did not enjoy (were they properly polished?)
  • Overall thoughts
    • Building spatial awareness is cool, mapping is cool
    • Language-focused puzzles were interesting, although at times I wished for a more grounded setup. Bards and above were kinda outside of the ancient flavor for me
    • The antagonist appeared out of nowhere. I really liked getting back to the hidden rooms, as the one in the Bard's sewers was boggling me for a very long. Maybe we could reintroduce the Monster earlier and tie it to the separation that Warriors enforced?
• If I'd do this, what vocab I'd use (from establishing communications with the cat)
  • Shelter/Hide, Danger/Scare, Peace/Safety
  • Food, Drink, Poop/Piss
  • Hug/Pet/Attention, Help/Come (кис-кис), Reward
  • Yes, No, I, You, Why/What