- valley of glass
A precious few moments to yourself. Some stolen time to wander round the valley and take in its beauty. Maybe even reminisce about the previous times you tried to leave…
valley of glass is a peaceful and quiet walking simulator, with no specific goals or puzzles. Just explore the enclosed valley and look at things, enjoy the pretty descriptions, maybe get a hint of backstory.
And here-in lies the difficulty of this sort of game. Without puzzles or adversaries, without a goal to fulfill or even a definite storyline to follow, all the weight of making the game engaging falls upon the depth and detail of implementation. And Valley of Glass fails this single prerequisite for an effective walking simulator.
With nothing specific to do, I want to do be able to do everything. I’m here to explore and enjoy the surroundings, so I want to experience everything. With all my senses.
If there’s a breeze, I want to feel it, if there’s mention of crisp morning air, I want to smell it. I’m surrounded by trees, so I want to climb them and look at the view from above and listen to the rustling leaves. I want to drink from the river and sit on the ground and rub the rocks.
valley of glass blocked me at every turn. Default dismissive responses everywhere.
“You can’t do that.”
“You can’t go there.”
“You can’t see that.”
To be fair, there are beautiful views and intruiging memories to be found in the valley of glass. The sharp cold when wading into the river, the glittering village with its silverreed roofs,…
For the most part however, I felt like I was wandering around an unresponsive collection of cardboard theater props. Pretty to look at, but no depth or life.
Here’s my transcript:
RovarssonValleyScript.txt (15.6 KB)