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Genre: Adventure Developer & Publisher: Roof Cut Media Released: November 26, 2024 Requirements: OS: Minimum, Windows 7; Recommended, Windows 11 Processor: Minimum, 2.5 Ghtz single core or 2.0 Ghtz dual core; Recommended, 3.5 Ghtz single core or 3.0 dual core Memory: Minimum 4 GB RAM; Recommended, 8 GB RAM Graphics: OpenGL 2.0, compatible with 512 Mb dedicated RAM Storage: 2 GB available space
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By flotsam Roof Cut Media Drawn to it initially by the visual style (Tim Burton and Gorillaz were apparently general inspirations and I can see both), I wasn’t sure what I thought early on but ended up feeling very positive about the time I spent with Colin. We first meet Colin waking in his bedroom, rousing himself to spend another day at his monotonous job as he has done many unsatisfying days before. Except his front door is missing, and his apartment is no longer what it seems. Getting out is the least (or most) of his worries, as his predicament forces him to confront the bits and pieces of his life that have led him to this point. Not to mention the cryptic messages on his bathroom mirror, the puppet in his bedroom, and the bloated caricature of his boss eventually emerging from the toilet. I thought that Mindlock did a good job of portraying the labyrinth that is Colin’s life, in ways that didn’t always make immediate sense but which spoke of how they impacted his here and now. Which is not somewhere he really wants to be, but is somewhere he is stuck unless and until he stares down the emotional challenges in his past and ultimately takes different paths. And his hunched posture speaks volumes. This is one game where exploring and clicking the environment benefits the bigger story. Colin’s insights help build a more complete picture of who he is and what he faces. Steam achievements also suggest there is much to be done that isn’t necessary, but are a product of complete clicking. Much of the puzzling is inventory based, but there are a few out and out puzzles. Kudos to the makers for listening to feedback about a couple of them, and providing patches to make them less problematic. There are also some conundrums that require a bit of timing, which can be managed one step at a time, albeit by doing the same thing. Then there are the mind games. These tended to be a bit too random in their solution for my liking but they weren’t all like that. And I warmed to them a bit more as the game went on, as I better appreciated their place in the narrative. Plus, the different visual style provided a counterpoint in more ways than one. As straight out puzzles though they remained a mix bag (and were responsible for my early-on feelings). The scene in front of you is explored with the mouse, and won’t slide or scroll. Little footsteps will indicate you can go elsewhere, whereupon a new scene will load if clicked. Hotspots (which are fairly generous) can be highlighted with the space bar or by clicking the little torch top left. Icons will indicate what can be done (pretty much look or take) and the ‘flipped’ left and right mouse was a nice touch in the context of the game. It plays in the third person and is hand drawn and animated. A lot of effort and thought has clearly gone into its depiction, and the game’s website provides more elaboration of the visual journey should you be interested. The maker says that “you can expect a lot of wry humour between hard reality and mystical elements” and I think that’s a fair assessment on all three counts. Everything is voiced, all rather well, and ambient sound and a suitable soundtrack round out the auditory pallet. The inventory is accessed through the pants icon bottom right. It exclusively autosaves, but frequently enough not to be an issue. Four to six enjoyable hours should see you through. I played on: OS: Windows 10, 64 Bit Processor: Intel i7-9700K 3.7GHz RAM: Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 32GB Video card: AMD Radeon RX 580 8192MB
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