The Goldilocks Principle by iris
Playtime: 12 minutes
—Below, I’m discussing a meta-element of the game that’s somewhat spoilery without spoiler tags.—
My confused thoughts and wishes:
- So, I had a lot of thoughts about the main meta-element of the game, which is that you can pick from 1 to 5 how “triggering” you want the game to be, and play a different game for each. (Except for 3, which does not exist, because, in the game’s words “Unfortunately, the perfect medium has yet to be invented. Who do you think you are, Goldilocks? No dice, sweetheart. No one’s managed to get it just right. Pick again.”).
- Ymmv, but I found the 4 games on offer to very much be 4 different games, not one game toned-up or toned-down. (Version 1, for example, is probably under 40 words [exclusive of however many words the game uses judging your choice]).
- The game also comments cynically on the level you choose (also based on where you are in your session). These comments relate back to appetite / eating habits (“you want to consume it all” / “maybe you’re not that hungry [for details]”).
- This was all very effective in terms of feeling fresh and exploring disordered eating (and I particularly liked the bit about level 3 not existing, which reminded me both of how disordered eating can include the loss of moderation; and how disordered eating can involve a sort of illusory control, where the person with the disordered eating feels like they’re making a choice, but others feel like that person has lost control.)
- I guess the lingering concern I had is that writing the paths so that the player is strongly encouraged to try all of them, seems like it’s also reducing the effectiveness of offering options in the first place?
Notable line:
Overall, a short, stylish, incisive treatment of struggling with an eating disorder.