A Quiet Scurry
Moss & Quill Studios
Reading the opening of this story, I was suddenly struck with the memory of my dad reading me ‘The Whispering Rabbit’ by Margaret Wise Brown. It’s a cute story about a rabbit who swallows a bee that falls asleep, and the rabbit has to figure out how to wake it up so it’ll fly away again. And the rabbit can only whisper, so when you read it to your kid, you have to whisper, too. As it turns out, the rabbit in that story dies a lot less often than our fearful protagonist mouse in this game, but something about the generally pastoral setting resonated. I felt like whispering when I played it, and despite the many tragic deaths lurking behind many clicks, it was just… nice to feel small. Like your troubles are large for you, but small for the world. The writing was focused, deliberate, and evocative. Sometimes that’s kind of what you need. OK, time for bed, kid. I love you.
Did the author have anything to say? ‘Here, be a mouse for a little bit.’
Did I have something to do? Replay the game multiple times, first to try to avoid dying, then to see how else I could die, then to see how else I could curl up for the night at the end.