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Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist

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I'm sorry if there is already thread on the game, but I searched for "Langeskov" and only the GOTy thread came up.  I thought this game deserved its own discussion.

 

Before you read on, I highly recommend going to steam and playing it.  It's free and takes about half and hour to 20 minutes and is by a designer who worked on The Stanley Parable and his team.  It's voiced by English comedian Simon Amstell.  Some minor spoilers below, and since it is short and free you should honestly just play it before reading the discussion. 

 

It's another entry into the now common games-about-games genre.  However, I think it has a fairly unique take on it.  It's game fiction doesn't care about experience of a developer (e.g. The Beginner's Guide or The Magic Circle) and isn't really about the experience of a player in the game (e.g. The Stanley Parable).  Instead it's more playful.  It treats the game as a kind-of live theater performance where the player is trying to run the back stage systems in the wake of a strike over unsafe work conditions.  The game is fun and fast.  It's a concept that is executed well and doesn't overstay its welcome.

 

I played the game thinking it was an actual heist game.  I had briefly dug into the ARG that crowcrowcrow ran before its release which set-up the heist.  So, the game instantly taking a 180 on me sort of surprised me.  I was worried that the designer was just retreading old territory, but I think this game brought something different to the table.  It's a game that seems to value humor above all else.  In The Stanley Parable, I thought it's humor was meant to be also be a commentary on game choice.  This game seems to be more of a fun lark.  I recommend it to anyone.

 

What are your thoughts?  What deeper meaning am I missing?  Is it just silly fun?

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Game felt like silly fun to me. I thought it was clever, but if there was any deeper meaning I wasn't paying attention. I thought the game had a lot of lovely detail, so I guess that was the main thing I was struck by.

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Either I also missed it or there wasn't really anything deeper, except from a vague sense of the shitty overworked conditions of the industry. But it didn't really have anything specific to say there really.

 

I loved Amstell's voice and I think the personality they gave this one was a big part of what made it so different. Instead of someone trying to push you in directions asserting it's for the best experience, you have a nervous and frazzled man pleading for you to follow instructions. He's never pushy, he's just desperate. When you break from something, he goes along with you and just tries to play along and fix it.

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Mostly, I just left the game thinking that it was a good teaser, and that I'd like to see what this team would do with a more fleshed out game. In addition to Amstell's performance, and Pugh's design (both of which I liked a lot), I was happy to see that Jack de Quidt wrote the game. He's on Friends at the Table with Austin Walker and seeing people who make things I enjoy make more things always makes me happy.

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I don't think there is any deeper meaning to it, other than just being a silly set up. The only commentary I picked up on was on the working conditions in the industry. At the same time, in the second playthrough you can listen to the tapes you find strewn about and they seem to be making fun of game designers and their ideas. so who knows. 

 

great piece of marketing though, as it made me pay attention to Crowscrowscrows and sign up for their newsletter, and I am sure I am not the only one. 

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This was just so cute and funnny and well done. I'm very pleased and intrigued about whatever they put out next.

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I had no idea the second playthrough lets you listen to the tapes! I thought those were a reference to Gone Home. 

Otherwise, it was just a really clever, well designed, funny game. Themost important take-away for me, it was a game with a very smart sense of humor, which is something a lot of games lack and it's something that I find is hard to do in a longer game. Short games that I've played often have more of a somber tone to them so a game that relied on quick, clever whimsy was actually really welcomed. I love things that make me laugh.

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I thought that it was very fun and funny.  It was a perfect length for what it was.  I loved reading the posters of the upcoming games.  At first I thought they were real!

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A good introduction to my new Steam controller, this one. I really enjoyed it, Amstell does a great job, and there were plenty of opportunities to get told off for pushing buttons and generally arsing about. Will probably show it to my stepdaughter

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I really enjoyed the game and felt it did have opportunities for interesting interpretations regarding how artists view themselves and just the surreality of visualizing the operations of a narrative game in a space (you know, like what an adventure game would look like backstage if backstage was a physical place rather than code).

I really enjoyed all the hints that there is more going on; it feels like you can type a code into the phone or press the right levers to make another door open. I did find and read the note leading to Mayflowernetworking.com and checked it out before seeing that there is a whole ARG type thing going on.

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