Golden Threads | 黄金线索

Golden Threads is a time-cave style twine game about Chinese diaspora experiences in the 19th century, with a focus on immigrants to New Zealand. As usual with time caves, there is a plethora of different endings, the path from start to end is usually very short, and it is difficult to predict the effect of each choice (going to San Francisco and staying there leads to a quick death). Many of the routes are based on historical figures, who are named in the endings. This is supposed to be an educational game I think, and I did end up learning something about the history of Chinese immigrants to New Zealand, especially about some interesting historical figures. The writing was concise and straightforwardly readable, in a nonfiction voice.

The visual style, art, and music/sound are all excellent, but I felt like the music was a bit wasted because of how quickly the endings were reached. I really liked the art style and presentation though. I originally thought there wasn't a restart button, but I had to zoom out to see it (the game was meant for full screen I guess). Overall, it's a brief game to experience, and easy to play through many times.