Storyteller: A Unique Challenge in Creativity – Weekly Indie Spotlight
Storyteller is a highly unique puzzle game that blends critical and creative thinking with a charming presentation. Your job is to arrange settings and characters to match the descriptions you are given, which is not always simple. You need to think ahead about character motivation and external situations.
Storyteller Challenges Your Mind – With Cute Illustrations
Developed by Daniel Benmergui and published by Annapurna Interactive, who also published indie favorites such as Journey and What Remains of Edith Finch, Storyteller tasks you with, well, telling stories. You’re given a scenario, and you have to arrange characters and situations to match the scenario. However, the trick is that you have to think in terms of motivation and situation.
The stories are arranged like a comic book, with rearrangeable panels that might be labelled things like “murder” or “spell,” and you have a selection of characters to place in the panels. Different characters will perform different actions in the situations, and the individual characters might react differently depending on previous panels. Stick a husband and wife in a panel labelled “murder,” and they might do nothing at first, but if you have the wife observe the husband in the “affair” panel before the “murder” panel, then the wife will have a motivation.
A Charming Presentation and Hidden Achievements
The animated illustrations are super cute, as if they could be found in an actual storybook. Most of the stories take inspiration from classic stories and characters like Adam and Eve, Sherlock Holmes, and Romeo and Juliet. This helps you to feel like you are part of literary history, telling your own chapters in these classic tales.
Even after you finish the game, there’s more to discover. Most of the achievements require you to break away from the given descriptions and get creative with panel and character arrangement. Some of the achievements might reference some other classic stories, while others might require some open thinking about the characters and their situations. It’s a great way to challenge your brain.
If You Love Giving Your Brain a Creative Workout, Buy Storyteller
While it may not satisfy people who want an action-packed experience, Storyteller is an incredibly charming, uniquely challenging game. If you’re into literature, this is the game for you. Even if you’re not into literature and you just want a challenging puzzle game, this game is also for you. You’ll feel smarter after playing it, and you might feel like reading a book – or writing one. The game can be purchased on Steam for $14.99.
