The Den

**The Den** by Ben Jackson.

It's been interesting tracking Ben Jackson's IF career. *The Kuolema* used Google Forms, a highly unusual format, and was choice-based but required text entry. It had lots of open exploration.

Then we had *Lunium*, a tightly constrained Twine escape room that also featured both choice and text entry, and included several visual puzzles. It kept most puzzles at all time.

Now we have *The Den*. While it keeps the choice and text entry hybrid of previous games, it has (in my mind) a stronger plot arc and better pacing than the other two, and features two protagonists, Aiden and Vee.

Our two heroes live in The Den, an underground area controlled tightly by Father. My first impression of the game was that it was similar to 10 Cloverfield Lane, where a tyrannical man imprisons others, and in this case was abducting children for experiments. I later decided that (Spoiler - click to show)this was some kind of lab with artificial beings and near the end it was clear that this was (Spoiler - click to show) a retelling of the story of Adam and Eve.

This game gave me big Subnautica vibes, with regards to storyline.

Puzzles in this game are the classic type you see in two-person games like Fire Boy and Water Girl, where one player opens passages for another or one player finds passwords for another.

There is also a Wordle mini-game, which I thought was amusing. I also found it a bit contrived, but that is later resolved.

The game is long, a bit more than 2 hours for me. I found the writing good; the two main characters manage to be neither cloying nor obnoxious, and the character of Father grew on me throughout the game.

The only things that I didn't much like during the game was how many options were 'Continue the story' or 'stop right now'. I usually didn't try the 'stop right now' choices, but once when I did the game ended (near the end) and another time it just ignored my choice, essentially (near the beginning). I understand the need to both move forward the plot and also maintain agency, but we usually reached those points by player commands in the first place, so I don't think we need additional confirmation so often. On the other hand, I'm not sure what the fix would be, as it's nice to have a little more interactivity like that. This is just a minor quibble; I think this game is great, and has the same high quality that proved popular in the author's earlier games.

Finally, I liked the use of all sense in the descriptions. There are a lot of smells and temperatures, along with the feel of wind, the hum of fans, the taste of food, and these sense come into play with the puzzles. I like that quite a bit and would like to incorporate that more into my own games.

This gave me "Silo" vibes, as the mystery of their existence in a post apocalypse underground bunker is slowly revealed as you solve puzzles and investigate your mundane surroundings more closely. Hints and clues keep the story moving.

Swapping control between the two characters in this adventure leads to an interesting paced and double perspective experience. Learning to use both your assets to solve problems and investigate different areas makes this game exciting and fresh.

I enjoyed the easy progression, lack of dead end and stumping problems. Nothing was contrived or unfathomable and that keep the story moving and me engaged.

Highly recommended for casual or beginners, this is a great introduction to adventuring.

Hats off to the writer for his imagination, polish and very cool touches throughout.

Note: This review is for the post-comp release.

Aiden and Vee are two seventeen-year-olds who’ve lived in an underground bunker, aka “the den,” since infancy. They know of no other home. With only Father to look out for them, they’ve settled into a stable life of chores, education, and activities. Safe from the hostile world looming outside.

Then, one day, they discover a new, strange part of the den, forcing them to reevaluate everything they thought they knew about their- and the den’s- existence.

Gameplay
Everything is shaped around Aiden and Vee’s efforts to escape the den and reach the surface level. As a Twine game, The Den follows a format that I call “free range of movement.” It’s when a choice-based work allows the player to travel from room-to-room while freely interacting with objects and NPCs as if it were a parser. And there are many rooms to explore (I had fun mapping it all out in my head).

You can now switch between Aiden and Vee using the button in the sidebar.

What makes the gameplay unique is that it requires teamwork effort between both characters. Aiden and Vee end up stuck in different parts of the den, requiring them to communicate via computer terminals. The player toggles between the two as they find ways around obstacles and apply newly-acquired knowledge about the den’s secrets. While the puzzles aren’t overly technical, they present a nice variety of challenges.

Overall, I found the experience to be quite enjoyable.

Story
I love symbolism. This game overflows with it. Simply put, (Spoiler - click to show)The Den is modeled off the story of Adam and Eve. In this case, humanity has been driven to extinction due to a sterility virus. Extinct… aside from Aiden and Vee who were engineered and conceived with the goal of repopulating the human race. There’s even a delicious, tempting apple tree, though here, it grants viral immunity. And if this isn’t clear enough, there’s this wham moment:

I also enjoyed piecing together the backstory via the computer files. I was left wanting more simply because the story is just that good. I couldn’t help but be curious: (Spoiler - click to show)Does Father have a freezer of frozen embryos stashed away somewhere? What else do Aiden and Vee know about their origins aside from the fact that Aiden is one day older? Did Father ever intend on informing them of their larger role in rebuilding the human race?

There is one thing that I would like clarified. (Spoiler - click to show)If you go back to bed instead of meeting Vee downstairs, you get a failure ending where Vee is never seen again. Aiden lives the rest of his life in the den without her while Father acts as if she never existed. Was she killed by debris from the earthquake? Did Father decide to force her to live elsewhere in the den? Was she turned into compost?

Genre
The Den is a good example of a work of science fiction that doesn’t lean too heavily into the genre. There’s mention of (Spoiler - click to show) cloning and A.I., and seems to take place in the distant future, but otherwise it’s more like mystery with sci-fi undertones. The game describes itself as “A light-hearted adventure with a darker mystery,” which I’d say is spot-on.

Characters
Narrated in third person, the writing captures the distinct personalities of Aiden and Vee. They contrast nicely: Aiden’s initial hesitance to break the rules with Vee’s playful rebelliousness. But no matter what, they are a team. After a lifetime of being sheltered, their sense of wonder is felt by the player.

And yes, (Spoiler - click to show)it took me forever to piece together that Father was a machine, not another human being (probably should have seen it coming). I like that he gets deeper characterization during the parts we experience from his perspective. Which makes me wonder: What are the odds that Father would have left the drawing of Alpha and Echo on Aiden’s bedroom wall? Could it have been deliberate, just like leaving the key in the kitchen for Aiden to find? I sense hidden depths…

Visual design
As is such with the author’s games, The Den boasts an appearance that is both simple and sleek. It uses a navy background with white text and blue links. Font effects are used for the computer terminals, and character dialogue is colour-coded.

Try the refuse room 🔒
Search the kitchen ✓

Leave the room

Icons add additional polish to appearance and functionality. The fact that the game lets you know when a room no longer has relevant content is immensely helpful.

Final thoughts
For me, The Den has it all: streamlined gameplay, characters you feel invested in, and a creative story- especially the story- that only fully reveals itself after everything has been said and done. It really goes the extra mile- you can even play the Vaccinator game via a link provided at the end! I was so impressed.

Whether or not you enjoy The Den may come down to personal preference regarding genre and/or puzzle complexity. But regardless, it’s a high-quality work that I strongly recommend anyone to try.

Fantastic game, no notes.