Vesna

Vesna is a fantasy Twine games about stories and telling stories. Wanting to leave everything behind, especially other people (because l’enfer c’est vraiment les autres…), you stumble upon the empty village of Vesna. Between the dilapidated buildings, and the clear signs of abandonment, you happily settle yourself to enjoy the peace and quiet. Until… you find Liv, the village’s chief, who promise you an easy-going life and fixed up village, if you attract passers-by with your stories. As you do so, breathing new life into the village, you will learn about its past, how it came to end up in this state, and a mysterious secret…

The game revolves around two fun mechanics: telling stories and exploring the village’s surroundings.
. In the first, you are able to craft stories by picking the genre, moving sliders to find the correct balance of emotions, and choose some themes. The first and last options are limited at the start. Recount your story under a tree to passers-by, who will either tell you that you should definitely give up and be ashamed of yourself because you have no skills or ask you if you were blessed by the Gods and oh please take the bard’s spot because your stories are absolutely perfect. You will also gain some reputation (which will attract more people) and some coins.

With the second, you can start mini adventures around the village, meeting people (and <S>recruiting them into your cult</S> inviting them to live in the village), items to decorate your house, and maybe find inspirations for stories (like new genre or themes). The adventures are random but varied (I did about a dozen I think, and it might not even count for half of those), some seemingly inspired from old tales. And this helps avoid the grind-ness of the story telling mechanic.

When you gain enough reputation, you are able to upgrade the village - like adding a market square or old temples. Some of these locations can be visited, with a few having extra interactions and collectibles. While you cannot build everything (which made my completionist heart sad), it is fun to see the description of the village change, as you see more people settling in. I do wish there would be something to do with every unlocked location rather than a few of those, like buy things at the market or pray to other gods, or even talk to the characters you recruted.

I’ve quite enjoyed playing the game, and discovering the secret of the village, getting there bit-by-bit (or page by page) through talking to the different NPCs, and see my reconstructions pay off.