Just Two Wishes by Kozelek
Flavor: explore connections between three vignettes, the first of which is set in Tel Aviv
Playtime: 31 minutes
Probably the most memorable part of the game was that the opening of the second vignette absolutely bodied me with surprise. But it did also make sense with the rest of the game and did not feel arbitrary. I respect that.
The first vignette in particular did a good job establishing a sense of place and expansiveness, while still constraining the player enough that things felt manageable. I liked the custom refusal responses on navigation, e.g., “That’s the way to the Ayalon river. You don’t think there’s anything interesting there.” The second and third vignettes I thought would have benefited from being built out a bit more and allowing / rewarding a bit more exploration. That said, I finished the game with about half the available points, so there must be content I missed. (Which, I’m already firmly on team “really, your puzzle-y stuff needs a walkthrough,” but I’ll say it again! This would have been better with a walkthrough! To me, a walkthrough shows that the author wants people to experience their work.)
I found the first vignette evocative and interesting, and I was curious to see where it went. I’m not sure the rest lived up to that initial spark. The second and third vignettes did feel more cramped/rushed. Also, to the extent that I understood the overall themes, it was fairly nihilistic, which is not my jam. [major spoilers] I understood the logical connection between the vignettes to be that the events of the first two are the results of “just two wishes” from the little girl in the third one. The implied theme then is something sad about retribution, tinged with slight absurdity from the supernatural elements.
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If you like this, you may like [other media]: beautiful wish-centric graphic novel Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed