PEGBRJE: Windosill and Crest
Big and Small, both Imaginative
Windosill is an interactive puzzle game made by Vectorpark, the pseudonym for indie dev Patrick Smith. Some may recall this title from it’s initial release back in 2009 to critical acclaim; a cute puzzle game for web browsers that could also be played offline on any operating system. Others may recognize the similarities in the artstyle and animation to a more recent title featured earlier in the bundle; Metamorphabet. With this in mind, players attempt to help a small toy car get through 10 different levels to achieve their goal, whatever that may be.
Each world players enter is a toybox unto itself in which players will attempt to find a cube to put into the hole above the door to open it. This is done through point and click methodology, interacting with the various items that exist on screen and seeing what they can and cannot do. Some may require dragging the items around instead of just clicking on them, so experimentation is encouraged; in fact, the game itself encourages it. With no timer, no concept of speed or score, Windosill simply asks players to explore the worlds crafted and try out everything and anything. Problem solving is helpful, but doesn’t seem to be weighted as heavily as with other puzzle titles as solutions can be slowly discovered by simply interacting with everything and seeing what changes. It’s more fun to simply click on all of the items to see their cute animations, and stumble into a solution whilst doing so. Granted, there was a singular puzzle section that stumped me to the point of having to look up a solution — it knows who it is, darn cloud.
What makes Windosill such a charming experience is in how much care is put into every animation and sound effect that accompanies it. Every click on an interactable comes with an exaggerated effect in both movement and sound to capture the spirit of fun while conveying it’s purpose. There was a cat meowing, a nose sneezing, and springs… springing to name just a few. Everything pulled and tugged if it could, only to release with a satisfying pop. It was almost cinematic in its execution, and coupled with its love for exploration Windosill made for an enjoyably short experience. It’s not meant to take all afternoon, but many may remember it for longer thanks to its charm. Just like with Metamorphabets, I definitely recommend this title to anyone looking to entertain younger folk for a few minutes, or anyone that may not be sold on the whole idea of ‘video games’. Even those of you that don’t fall into this category will enjoy this title, as it is truly fit for all ages. It’s a kaleidoscope of simplicity and creativity, and still holds up after a decade.
Normally I’d say that if you’re still not sold on it, the web demo is still up, but uh… RIP FLASH I’m still sad.
Crest is a god mode simulation game made by Eat Create Sleep, an indie studio out of Sweden that creates games to ask questions. This title does just that, although not in a standard way; players are the deity of their people, situated in a Sub-Saharan Africa-like region in which they fluorish. Unlike many simulations and tycoons, however, players cannot give direct actions to their people. Instead, they must issue commandments to them and watch as their followers attempt to integrate these holy doctrines into their lives.
As it is with many titles of this nature, Crest is sprawling with many features, charts, menus and stats for players to consume which is a challenge to condense into a simple overview. Upon starting the game, players will find themselves greeted by the Chronicler, the one who resides within the Underworld and documents everything so that players can reference everything; the game then begins with a singular city in a region, and the world of possibility. These people that reside have their own free will, and will do as they see fit unless a deity of sorts issues a commandment, to which they will assess whether or not they enjoy that commandment and if they will follow it. Commandments are given as set phrases, with the first being the subject of focus — the ‘people’ or object that is being commanded. The second is the action that is to be taken onto the third phrase, which is another object. For example, if a player’s people reside in the jungle, they can be issued a commandment that says that people of the jungle should gather the berries. Once issued, some time will pass before it is acted upon to which the people will give their reaction; negative feelings towards a commandment will make them less loyal to their deity and possibly cause them to become non-religious.
It’s this indirect nature that makes the game so intriguing; not only do these commandments take time to be acted upon, but they also require enough influence to be instituted in the first place. Influence is gained over time, with more gained based on the number of cities following the player. Without influence, players are hopeless as their people do what they wish, possibly with ramifications. There is also the word association mechanic, in which constant reinforcement of certain phrases and commandments can lead to the people believing that one word means another. For myself, my people believed that those who should hunt are only the elderly, as there had been a few unsuccessful hunts resulting in the death of my hunters. The people then began to believe that hunting for food was something to be done by those ready to die, something I hadn’t wanted as food through meat became scarce thanks to my elderly… well, dying off. Partly thanks to this association, partly because they were old, and also because some lions kept showing up and killing them off. This can be condemned or overwritten, but it costs a lot of influence to be able to do, so picking and choosing when to make commandments is critical.
This barely scratches the surface of city relations once more cities become established, or the ‘tech tree’ that unlocks new phrases that the deity can use. My biggest problem throughout the early game was with hippos, but due to them being such a terrifying beast they were relatively high up the learning tree so I simply had to deal with their tyranny without access to a phrase that could reference them. Those that perished to these beasts were available for conversation within the Underworld as a constant reminder of what threatens the player’s people. There is also monument building, expertise of certain skills, trade relations for different goods and even the ability to sail. There’s even terraforming, climate change management in the amount of water consumed by the different regions and animal control. There’s just so much here.
To say I was able to uncover everything this game could offer is just a straight lie. Crest offers much for players that are familiar with simulations, yet at an unfamiliar pace and direction thanks to the inability to control individual people. It subtly asks through this gameplay what it means to be a higher power and to give your people free will, or what is the best form of ‘deity’. Is it one that controls their people through constant commands and rigid structures, or a freeflowing goddess that allows for the people to live and die by their own follies? That isn’t a question I can answer for you, that’s one for you to answer for yourself. If you are looking for a simulation that you can sink hours into while still feeling like everything is out of your control, one that can lead to the destruction of your people instantly because they associated trade with murder, this is definitely a game to try out.
