Mother Tongue

My girlfriend and I had a good time playing this one in bed last night. It’s the perfect length for its premise and challenges you to learn a few basic words of Tagalog while exploring the inter-generational relationship between a mother and daughter.

I really liked how the game introduced you to the quirks of the language. Word order and spelling changes based on context that the mother can’t quite explain over text because it’s “very complicated.” I only speak English, but I can just imagine trying to justify even some of our simplest conjunction rules. That being said, this isn’t Duolingo. The challenges are short and solvable with what you’ve learned, and when you get it wrong it’s fun to see your mom encourage you and try to explain exactly why the right answer is right. It’s cute.

What I would love to have seen explored better was the tension between the two characters. In the game’s early choices, I tended to express interest in learning more about Tagalog and my cultural ancestry, but near the end the game railroaded me into (Spoiler - click to show)blowing my mom off and explaining to her that learning a language will not make me Filipino; that I am already American and my mom can’t just suddenly fix that over text. I’m not an immigrant, and that’s probably true, but I didn’t feel as though I was playing a story about that until it was suddenly sprung on me. I thought this was about a moment of connection.

To be clear, I have objection to that theme at all. I think it’s very interesting. I just think it needed to be more consistent. I believe the choices we are offered as players tell us about the relationship and character. They should be limited based on what the author wants us to explore and learn. I just found it inconsistent. If this interactive tension existed throughout, it would really bring the game to the next level. I think the possibilities for this 15 minute game could be quite profound.

Great work!