The Sandman by Bellamy Briks
Playtime: 17 minutes
This made me want to talk about:
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An ominous piece, with visual and sound design that amplifies the foreboding / claustrophobic atmosphere
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Nice quality-of-life to allow skipping the intro
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The premise is compelling and I was plenty invested in trying to help these people
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an effective union of format and plot (in that the player has very limited options, reflecting that the player-character also has very limited options)
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creative use of options (I enjoyed the use of duplicated options where only one works [which I took to be simulating the player character hallucinating due to lack of sleep], and the treatment of options after someone dies is big oof)
Notable line:
My one fervent wish:
I think the horror vibe / emotional impact of this game would have been heightened if the writing style had been toned down in some spots. (And I say this covered in my usual slime of subjectivity, plus additional bonus slime because opinions on writing style vary A LOT.)
We’ve got a mysterious virus, tragic backstories, a mom wondering if she’s gonna have to watch her kids die—these elements bring plenty of weight and interest, and I think might benefit from negative space around them / a light hand stylistically.
There were a few places the style struck me a bit as pulling focus from everything else. Certainly that has a time and a place, I’m just not sure it serves the goals of this piece. (Everything has a time and place because writing is all about achieving a specific effect, I am very skeptical of universal writing advice.)
example
This section reads as busy. We have verbs with a lot of connotations (“stalks” and “drags”), juicy adjectives (“tired,” “scuffed,” and “filthy"), and the synecdoche of focusing on her “frame” in the second sentence. I wounder if it would have more impact if instead it focused on a few of the most important elements.
(“Stalks,” which connotes leashed power and menace, also feels out of place for this exhausted woman. The virus is stalking everyone, maybe.)
Overall, a short gripping dark fable.