This must be Steerpike’s Week of Obscure and Creepy Games, since I’ve gotten roped into playing another one as well, that I’ll be writing about later. Anyway.
Tale of Tales is a Belgian studio with the pretty-much-explicitly-stated goal of making games that aren’t fun. What can I say, they’re Belgian.
The Path has been on the radar for a while now; by far T of T’s most ambitious game, billed as a “short horror” experience. Just released yesterday over Steam and on the ToT website, It’s about half Little Red Riding Hood and half Holy Crap But That’s Disturbing, Even More Disturbing Than The Other Game I’m Playing.
I told you, it’s my week for obscure and creepy games.
In The Path, you play as one of six girls of varying ages, from six year old Robin to 17 year old Carmen. Your job is to get to Grandmother’s House, which is just down the… well, down the path. You’re told not to deviate from the path. Follow the path and your uneventful journey ends in about ten minutes and the game informs you that you’ve failed. Because The Path is all about deviation, in more ways than one. The true game lies in the forest on either side of the path, and once you step off that dirt trail, the things you find among those dark trees are often more upsetting than you might imagine.
I’ve only played The Path for about half an hour, because it’s not the sort of game you play for long stretches. It’s too disturbing and it’s often incredibly boring. But for all that I’ve never been a big fan of Tale of Tales’ work, The Path represents something important in gaming. It is very much a game about adolescence and the aging process, as seen through the thoughts and experiences of each of the game’s potential protagonists. Their thoughts wash across the screen as you wander, along with other images that, while apparently harmless, take on an unbelievable creepiness in the context of the groaning trees and dim light of the forest.
The experience of the journey is what The Path is about. What you find in the forest, who you meet, and your girl’s eventual fate intertwine into an experience that’s almost certainly not a game in the classic sense, but does bring to mind the awesome power of interactive experiences in a way many games simply don’t do.
And then there is the Wolf.
I met him playing as Ruby, who’s 15 or so, grim and annoyed with the world. Ruby wears a brace on one of her legs and adheres strictly to the gothic slut manner of dress. Being that I was a gothy rebel, I wandered off the path first chance I got, and within seconds I was lost. The forest, so eerie, fit in well with Ruby’s sensibilities. She doesn’t like her sisters, doesn’t like the world. She’s happier alone and seems capable only of finding the awfulness in things. This is pretty typical of 15 year old girls, in my experience. “Bubbly and vivacious” are not terms I would apply to young Ruby.
There in the forest, after about 20 minutes of roaming, I thought I saw something moving among the trees. Just a flicker.
Hurriedly chasing after it, I came upon an abandoned, overgrown playground of sorts, with a rusted out slide, some splintery seesaws, and a few toys that looked like they’d been discarded years ago. Just the sort of place Ruby would totally love.
I saw a man dragging something. It looked like a rolled up carpet. Yes, that’s what it was. A rolled up carpet. Why is that man dragging a rolled up carpet through a forest? I asked myself. Then he sort of vanished among the trees, and I chased after.
By the time I found him, he was sitting on a bench and the carpet was nowhere to be seen. I sat down next to him and he offered me a cigarette from his pack. There is no speaking in this game, ours was a silent exchange. So we sat there for a second with our cigarettes.
That my Ruby came to a bad end shortly after this encounter is likely not something I need to elaborate upon, and the game doesn’t either. It fades out and fades back in, and Ruby is asleep or unconscious, back on the path. That the game left it to me to guess what had happened, and where my mind took me, is why The Path qualifies as a horror game. Still shivering a little at the implications, I got Ruby back up and headed toward the house visible at the end of the path. I had had enough of exploring the woods.
It took me a while to realize that Ruby was no longer under my control, and to ascertain that the house ahead was not Grandmother’s. Again, The Path didn’t overtly say anything (it almost never does, not even providing instructions on the controls), leaving me to draw a conclusion… namely, that Ruby had not survived her encounter with the man in woods, and that wherever she was going now promised to be even worse than what she’d already experienced. I don’t know if that house was the entrance to hell or what, but what I found inside confirmed some of my worst suspicions, shortly before the game unceremoniously toted up my statistics and awarded me a C for effort.
The Path is ten bucks. It is slow, and dull, and weird. It’s not particularly fun, not in a normal sense. It is extremely disturbing at times, but never (so far) shows you anything, preferring to make your own imagination the culprit. This is the very definition of an art-house game, and not the type of thing that will appeal to everyone. But for a lousy ten bones, anyone with any interest in the cutting edge of game design would do well to pop over to Steam or the ToT website and grab a copy. It’s the kind of game that needs to be discussed, and may never be understood, except by its creators. And yet it is very much an innovative, clever game that’s worth exploring. The game’s trailers ask an odd question, as incongruous and applicable as the game itself: will you choose the path of needles… or the path of pins?
In The Path, you never know which is which, or which is better. You only know that to stay on the path means safe failure and to step off it means near-certain victory at the cost of your doom. It redefines the concepts of winning and losing by turning both on their heads. It’s a game that wants you to explore and then destroys you for doing so. Go. The forest beckons.
Hey, Matt, my wife read this and said, “Gosh, ‘slow, dull and weird’ sounds like you, honey; I mean, excuse me, the kind of game you like.” Definately, one I’ll check out. Thanks….
Dave
O-o-o-h, that is creepy, but an interesting review. You always find the philosophical/social/political/psychological underpinnings, even in ‘slow, dull and weird’ games.
Apparently this game is more interesting in concept than in play.
I’ve been playing this for the last 2 days and find it just incredible. Slow it is but dull…no way. Granted, the game offers up a different kind of interactivity than say Fallout 3 where you manipulate every thing in your environment. We’ve all gotten used to a kinetic game space bristling with knobs and buttons and shiny things that go pop. This game is very, very different. This game screws with your head. It’s not a test of puzzle solving or motor skills or fight or flight acuity. Steerpike is onto something in that this game is about innocence and the loss of it.
There comes a moment in every kid’s life when he or she experiences life’s first cut, its first betrayal. In a way all children are cuts awaiting the knife and in The Path you are witness to this loss of innocence 5 times wildly amplified. This game takes you on 5 journeys with 5 different girls. You experience 5 falls and take find 5 wildly divergent paths to Grandma’s house (or whatever this place is) where your fate inexorably unspools depending on your actions. It’s not a heavy handed dark path/good path like some many recent games. No, it is much more subtle than that. And no, you will not survive, at least not in any recognizable form.
I’m reminded a lot of another enigmatic game, Alice An Interactive Journey, esp. in the art work. Both share the same children story book aesthetic but filtered through something much, much darker, much more wolfish. Both feature a circular type of gameplay and a dream-like game space that is about “return”.
The music, by an ex-member of the Swans, comprises the whole of soundtrack and other than some growls and cries, most of what you hear is a beautiful, dark gothic orchestration. If you have a goth bone in your body get this game. This IS a game that needs to be talked about, and for once it’s both important and intriguing.
I’ve finished Ruby and Ginger so far and played Ginger twice. The game is quirky. There is no real save and reload that I can see. Often when I access my basket the game freezes when I return to the game world but for some reason I can unlock it by hitting the space bar. Though there are dense woods there is no real map. You navigate by clues and subtle landmarks. I’m not sure but I think locations move around too.
This is the first game that I’ve begun to recommend to people who are ardent anti-gamers and I’m waiting to hear what they think. I think this will be a case of love it or hate it for most seasoned gamers but I encourage you to keep an open mind and give it some time to work on you. It’s one of the most unique games I’ve come upon in a long time.
Thanks for the First Impression, Matt.
I stopped reading your review because you sold me on it with your first seven paragraphs. I don’t want to read about it; I want to play it.
Thank you for inviting me into obscurity!
Alice an Interactive Museum popped into my mind as well when I read this review. I loved Alice and this sounds fascinating. I was wondering if I would be able to get it with my slow connection, but was happy to see that it is a pretty small download.
I have put about an hour into this game and I can’t decide if I like it or not. On one hand, its slow, dull, and not challenging in any way. On the other hand, it’s different, pretty, somewhat creepy, and makes excellent use of sound. It makes me want to play more just to explore the forbidding forest, if only for 45 minutes at a time.
For ten bucks, I recommend the experience. I haven’t seen a wolf, nor have I been to Grandma’s house since my first play-through, during which I beelined for the place.
I must check out this game. From what I read here and there it reminds me of the very disturbing adventure(?) game Bad Day on The Midway by Inscape.
I’m finding it very interesting. I ran to Grandma’s house and did a few other things and then started with Ginger. For about half an hour we climbed a tree, played with the girl in white, found a flower and a scarecrow and ended up at Grandma’s house again with success and a C. Can’t wait to try with the other girls.
Wow. Not a game I’ll buy–weapons free, Steerpike–but definitely one I’m glad is out there.
It sounds like a totally freaky game which I’d definitely try if I had time to do anything at all other than work, play with my won, and sleep.
Gosh talk about dull and weird!
Oops….son. Gee we need an edit function!
Fear not, readers, the forums are coming back soon, along with a name change and a variety of delicious site improvements. Hang in there – MrLipid and I are working to get it all together very shortly.
M
Fear not, readers, the forums are coming back soon, along with a name change and a variety of delicious site improvements. Hang in there – MrLipid and I are working to get it all together very shortly.
M
wow! this is right up my alley…
i played for about an hour this morning ’til guilt for completing household chores drew me back to real life…
then company showed up…
now i’m cookin’ dinner…
and i’ve been thinking about the freakin’ game all day!
i can’t wait to settle in later tonight with the lights off, sound turned up, and melt back into the woods…….
thanks for the heads up matt )
I’ve heard a bit about this game but had no idea it was already finished and ready to purchase! I’ll have to put the developer link in my favorites folder to order soon. Or, I guess I could go through steam also. The comments on the game really interest me. For $10 I think I’ll have to dive into the deep waters and submit my mind to this warped game. 🙂
my first girl was ginger…
i got a B…
found all but 2 items…
unlocked 2 out of 3 secret rooms…
the ride through grama’s house was mushroom-freaky! cool!
now i’m playing with robin.
I’ve played Ginger, Rose and Robin. Robin was the one that affected me the most so far. I’ve never received more than a C. I need to do more searching before I encounter the wolf.
I think the key to enjoying The Path is whether you have ever been in that forest yourself.
To some of us, it’s a very familiar place.
The Path reminds us of how innocent and hopeful most video games are. Look, say, at Doom. Man with shotgun takes on the Devil and destroys Hell. That’s optimism. Unrealistic, but a nice thought to keep you warm at night when things aren’t going well.
Real life is a variable experience where you learn things, have some enjoyable experiences, some nasty ones, and then… you die. That’s The Path.