Behind the waterfall

Behind the waterfall is structured a lot like a parser game, except that here, you get to click on conveniently placed hyperlinks to examine/interact with objects and move the story forward. Well, definitely works for me.

The game is pretty short, and with my ultra fast reading speed, I was able to finish this in three minutes or so, even though I tend to struggle a bit with puzzles in general. (Spoiler - click to show)All you need to do is place one item, activate another item, collect a third item and now you have what you need to win. Writing is competent and uses a minimal style, and while there isn't really much of a plot, or even context for the situation you find yourself in, but that's ok for a short puzzle game.

It's good for a short bit of entertainment, but once you get to the winning screen, there is little reason to head for another round.

You are exhausted after hiking across who-knows-where. All you want to do is rinse yourself off in that cool, refreshing waterfall... But for some reason, when you approach the flowing stream of water, it stops. If you want a shower, it seems that you’ll have to earn it first.

In a nutshell, you need to find a way to get the waterfall “working.” This objective is tied in with a light story with a touch of whimsy. Why is there (Spoiler - click to show)a monkey-themed tin in the cavern? Don’t ask. Just roll with it. To avoid spoiling the fun, I’m going to focus on the game’s implementation of which I was quite impressed.

It’s made with Ink. But if you didn’t know better, you may have thought Twine. I’m used to Ink consisting of text followed by links that add more text until you have a long, scrollable page of content. Behind the waterfall does away with scrollbars and opts for a neatly formatted body of text in the center of the screen. Links are embedded in the text, resembling something you may find in a Twine game.

You are on a boulder in front of the opening leading to the cavern that the waterfall hid. Down below, you can see the deep bottom of the pool, which is now empty.

Clicking on links then brings up a list of actions whether it be moving to a different area or examining an item. The gameplay has an easy rhythm. It encourages you to slow down, carefully observe, and appreciate your surroundings.

All of this can be summarized with a term I use called “free range of movement” which describes when a choice-based game allows the player to travel around a map-like environment and engage with its contents as if it were a parser, minus the keyboard. I mostly see this in Twine works, but Ink? This is a first (and refreshing, just like that tempting waterfall). It really adds dimension and movement to the gameplay.

Final thoughts
Five stars. The story and gameplay are good, but what elevates Behind the waterfall as a whole is how these components mesh together with smooth implementation, resulting in a truly atmospheric experience. Word count and details are kept to a minimum- a perfect example of less is more.

I feel calmer after playing this. I can almost imagine standing at the edge of a cool body of water with mist in the air and plants surrounding me. The ambient sounds of wildlife. A strong game can transport you anywhere.