Shadow and Ink

Shadow and Ink is a Twine game set in an alternate 1920s Japan where ink flows in rivers and paper creatures inhabit the countryside (alongside more typical humans, animals, and occasional yokai). The player character is saved from drowning by a talking willow tree who tasks them with creating books (here a magical transformation that you effect on a collection of relevant items) and distributing them to the inhabitants of a nearby village.

My dark secret as a bookish individual is that I frequently don't enjoy narratives about the power of books; the theme often feels a little self-congratulatory in a way that gives me a sort of secondhand embarrassment. But Shadow and Ink managed to delight me the way it was supposed to without evoking that slightly unreasonable response. It may be because despite the presence of magic, it keeps the stakes pretty low and sticks to having books do things they can realistically do. They're not saving the world, they're just making people's lives a little better—offering escapism, for example, or practical advice, or memories of a lost loved one.

The world is fun to explore, with many colorful characters to meet, and I appreciated the convenience of the fast travel menu even though the map isn't that huge (since I have a really terrible memory for what's where, it saved me the effort of having to draw a map, which I otherwise have to do if a game has more than, like, four rooms). In general Shadow and Ink offers a lot of conveniences for a smooth playing experience, although if I may be so selfish as to wish for one more, I would have liked a light mode option.

The gameplay is not terribly challenging, but it was fun to check my inventory and see I had a full set of ingredients for a book, and then go "oh, I bet I know who would like that!" I did appreciate the optional bonus challenge of finding the ninjas; it was nice to have something that rewarded paying closer attention to your environment. If you do have trouble with anything, it appears there is an extensive hint system that I barely touched.

I sort of wished the game were longer, inasmuch as I wanted to spend more time in that world and maybe see a little more of some of the characters, but I'm not sure if the gameplay as currently designed could have supported that or if you would need to find a way to add another level of complexity in order to extend much past the current scope.

Anyway, it's not always a bad thing to be left wanting more! Shadow and Ink is a very charming game and I enjoyed my time with it.