Black Thumb

So, just previously I was talking about minimalistic games with a linear storyline/puzzle sequence, and explaining that the rest of the game still needs to be implemented to a sufficient level, in a way that guides the player through. That is exactly what Black Thumb does.

Sure, call me exaggerating: the game in question is very short and doesn’t do anything super innovative or excitingly different. However, what it does do is implement the entirety of the room in detail that allows the player to feel immersed in the simulation. The different parts of the descriptions are given their own responses, and there is subtle guiding through reliance on assumptions the player makes, and then it soon uses these to make the player do things that you never would have imagined yourself enacting, much like the meat puzzle in Coloratura, but on a smaller scale.

The parts about implementation may seem like a bare minimum, and in a way it is, but on the other hand many games that do similarly tend to be puzzle heavy games, and they like to create descriptions that often imply “that isn’t important” or “you don’t need that yet but keep an eye on it”; this game creates descriptions that do exactly that, but without being dimsmissive. I don’t know how to explain it. The descriptions are fairly poetic as well, which helped create this cozy atmosphere about it.

I know that others will likely give this a 3-star or 4-star, but I enjoyed it a lot.