Tableaux Vivants by Lamp Post Projects
I’m getting down to the wire, so my apologies that this review is more of a jumble of thoughts rather than a cohesive piece of writing…
This game had both a cozy and mysterious atmosphere, and the gameplay clipped along pretty nicely for me. Everything ran quite smoothly, I didn’t notice any bugs or issues otherwise. I appreciate a parser game that provides suggested verbs, it really helps guide me in places where I might otherwise get stuck. I thought the puzzles were moderately challenging. A few were very obvious, but a few took a bit of exploration and thinking. I think the hardest parts were the ones that required you to do research in the study, as coming up with the right research topics took me a bit of searching (I ended up peeking at the walkthrough for a little suggestion to speed me up). I really thought at one point I should put the salad in the case, and thought I/the puzzle was so clever that a reformatted plant could be under my nose. But alas, that was not a thing, and I was pretty disappointed. I appreciated the way the more emotional storytelling was interlaced with the puzzle aspects. Personally, I connected most with the themes of failed ambition, as I often feel my life racing by while my brain gets stuck in the mud. Overall, I thought this was a solid game and enjoyed my time with it!