Der Angstbaum

This game has been on my wishlist for years, as it was constantly recommended to me by IFDB's old algorithm. But it's in German, and pretty complex german at that, which my high-school-german brain can't handle well. I also had to use DOSBOX to play it.

But I'm glad I did! The story in this is actually one of the best I've read in a while, not even just in IF, although it is very short.

The game has some worldbuilding you can read up on in a txt file attached to the Zip. It talks about the Boronois, a group of people that live far away that are (I think???) short, non-religious, and with traditions about marriage and competitions, and some relationship with magic.

You're in love with a girl, but to win her heart you have to have the biggest chicken in the competition tomorrow! So of course you break into your rival's house to poison his fat chicken. Unfortunately, you aren't the only one who's broken in...

Beyond one puzzle early on and a basic puzzle later (that is on a timer), most of this game is menu-based conversation, with an interesting cast of characters, including your love, your rival, and his family.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. It was definitely worth the wait. As a non-native speaker of German, the very complex language (for me!) was mitigated by the shortness and the multiple choice aspect.

Since I'm from Germany, I stumbled over text adventures on a German website for blind gamers. It sounded interesting so I tried it. Luckily it's the ideal game for newbies. At least it was for me. The story made sense. It wasn't boring, but I also was never at a point where I didn't know what to do next. Don't get me wrong. There's a fair share of possible mistakes. (What better way to teach about the use of the save command.) But at least for me, it was always a case of: ok a doesn't work so let's try b. So if you know some German, like fairytalelike stories and aren't disappointed if your brain doesn't oze out of your ears while you try to solve the puzzles, you should definitely try this game.

Abstract:
You are a Borinoi in love, setting out to do something stupid. Desperate to win the heart of your beloved, you break into the house of your rival at night. When you realize that you're not the only one doing stupid things, and that some are even out to kill, you start to investigate the source of the mysterious events.

Comment:
"Der Angstbaum" clearly is a plot driven game, there are no puzzles in a classic sense. Instead, there's a gripping story which is explored mainly by walking around and having conversations.

The plot unfolds before the player step by step through well written, detailed descriptions. The game is relatively short and maintains a dense atmosphere all the way through. The plot benefits there from the independently created fictional background of the Borinoi and their way of living (text available in the game).

All technical aspects of the game design have been solved nicely. Martin Oehm's TAM provides a comfortable parser, and the author added rich in-game information and a hint system (TIP).

Now that I played through this game the second time, I like it just as much as when I first played it way back then, when its prose oriented style helped spark my interest in German IF. Thanks Jens!