DREDGE, at its core (and as you might imagine) is a fishing sim. But it likely unlike any fishing sim you’ve played before. With multiple mechanics for actually catching fish, from equipment types to player input, DREDGE maintains the classically meditative advantages that all fishing sims enjoy.
Amanita Design has done it again! Creaks is the latest title from Amanita, a studio renowned for its environmental puzzle games that tell stories without any dialogue. The premise of Creaks is that our main character finds a secret tunnel at the back of his room and, going full Coraline, decides to crawl through it our of morbid curiosity. It doesn’t take too long, however, for our hero to reach the point of no return…
Phantasy Star…the ultimate RPG of my childhood. When I discovered the game was on the Nintendo Switch eShop I absolutely had to have it. I cannot begin to describe the endless hours middle-school-aged me spent mapping out dungeons with a graph paper notebook, step by freaked out step, hoping to not run into horrible monsters.
A quiet, explorative experience.
The lack of context for the protagonist (aka you) lends ‘Gone Home’ perfectly to the exploration genre with a heavy and continuous sense of discovery. After a year away from home, a new house to return to, and no friendly faces waiting just over the threshold, Katie must look through the house to uncover the reason her younger sister, Sam, left so abruptly.
With clues, secret spaces and hidden passageways, we reveal the truth alongside Katie. There is no judgment, no opinion given; just an ear lent to a lovesick sibling, easing into a conversation concerning both young love and QUILTBAG+ relationships. We feel the isolation, visualize ‘the talk’ from parents, and spiral down into understanding even as Sam herself is discovering her feelings. The journey feels mutual and close. I very much enjoyed learning about Katie’s family, their troubles, and their secrets.
The only problem I had with the game was the thunderous night that served as ambiance for my explorations. After some time in the game peeking around every corner for the poltergeist Sam describes in her notes and frantically searching for light switches, I caved and asked the internet if ‘Gone Home’ had any jump scares. I didn’t think I had started a horror game, but the atmosphere that followed me around the house said otherwise. Despite my searches revealing that there were no jump scares, I still felt anxious roaming the house, which detracted from my immersion in the story and willingness to linger and search for clues in places like the TV room, library, and basement.
After the stormy night stopped bothering me (only after stepping away for an evening) I was able to roam without discomfort, but given the short-form nature of the game allowing it to be completed in one sitting and, in my opinion, being more powerful for doing so, it was a shame that choices on atmosphere so resembled horror walking sims and at times created an antagonistic play experience in a somber, empathetic story.
It was suggested to me that the blustery, dark night is an analogy for the process of discovering, accepting, and communicating sexuality that is not purely heterosexual, which can be, and often is, frightening. If this was the intention of the developers, I applaud the effort; however, the player is Katie, a character we have no information on regarding her sexuality, and given the reaction of the girls’ parents to Sam’s “talk,” can assume no such conversation has ever occurred for Katie. If the atmosphere’s goal was to feel the stress and anxiety that Sam was feeling, for my experience at least, it was very lost in translation.
