ancy Maple had actually invested simple minutes in the Crimson Lodge before I got her eliminated in The Crimson Diamond. The amateur mineralogist– on an errand with the Royal Canadian Museum, where she works as a clerk– invested hours on a train heading deep into the Canadian wilderness, searching for diamonds. I figured she ‘d like a shower. So I click Nancy through the Crimson Lodge, peering into spaces and periodically saying hi to other visitors. I discover a restroom with a tub and shower, maneuver Nancy beside it, and type Take a shower. It does not work, due to the fact that Nancy is completely outfitted. I type Undress, and Nancy will not do it due to the fact that the door’s open. Makes good sense! I point Nancy to the door. Close the door. Now Undress. Back at the shower, I peck out Turn on water valve on my keyboard. Change to shower. Now Nancy can get in.
However then, The Crimson Diamond cuts to a various angle, Nancy’s shape behind a shower drape. The music shifts. Anybody who’s seen a scary film understands what will occur next– the door deal with jiggles. The door opens. Nancy is stabbed to death. I forgot to lock the door.
A pixel art fish with a diamond spilling out of its chopped stomach
Image: Julia Minamata
The Crimson Diamond, from designer and illustrator Julia Minamata, is a video game about accuracy. Not accuracy in regards to motion, however accuracy with words. Minamata’s very first solo-developed video game utilizes a text parser to manage the action. (Except Nancy herself; she moves with a mouse click or arrow buttons.) It’s a function that was typically utilized in video games from the ’80s and early ’90s; Sierra On-Line is understood for its text parser video games like King’s Quest and The Colonel’s Bequest: A Laura Bow Mystery. Instead of pointing and clicking in these video games, you’re typing out commands. If you desire Nancy to consume a rock, you type Eat rock. (She may refrain from doing it, however.).
” You do not see a great deal of text parser video games nowadays,” Minamata informed Polygon. “I’m not going to state I’m shocked by it, however at the same time, we’re a society where we’re texting and typing all the time. It’s this continuous thing. We’re connecting with each other and the composed word all the time. I simply like by doing this of connecting with a video game. It seems like there’s unrestricted possibilities.”.
A gif of a group of individuals sitting at a bar, all rendered in pixel art.
Image: Julia Minamata.
This is where being exact with language is available in. Even the tiniest tweak of a word will alter what occurs. You can take a look around a space, however what if you take a look at something? And, once again, as I found out, what if you close the door, however do not lock it? Nancy’s nearly instant murder– which, in turn, had me start over at my last conserve– was the best lesson I required to comprehend The Crimson Diamond and what it was asking of me.
The video game starts with Nancy Maple getting on a train into a remote lodge in Ontario, where she’s to examine a mystical diamond that was sliced out of a fish’s stomach. Diamonds aren’t typical in the location, or so they state, therefore a couple others are gathering to the location, too: Family members of the Lodge owners wanting to declare an inheritance, a curious Japanese Canadian birdwatcher (a homage to Minamata’s household’s history in Canada, she stated), and a federal government geologist. Everybody anticipates it to be a fast journey, however a bridge surge unexpectedly strands them all at the lodge with its bad-tempered owner, home personnel, and the owner’s partner. Mayhem occurs– both around the household drama, an unsuccessful mining town’s history, a death (not Nancy’s!), and, obviously, the diamond.
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The Crimson Diamond is divided into 7 various chapters, the majority of which occur in the Crimson Lodge and its surrounding premises. Throughout numerous hours, you’ll get extremely acquainted with the characters and their stories, both as people and with regard to how their backstories play into the bigger secret. Nancy ends up being the de facto investigator who pieces all of it together. Among the early secrets is a burglary: Someone’s taken a pricey brooch and a number of steins. It’s Nancy’s very first venture into investigator work; to do it, you’ve got to discover makeshift tools to dust and analyze finger prints before discovering the perpetrator. You’ve got to get finger prints for everybody in your house, a few of which are as basic as simply asking, however others need more thinking and insight, like feeding a guy a cookie so salted that he’ll require a beverage– an action that needs him to touch a glass from which you can later on raise a finger print.
Nancy Maple eavesdropping on a lady in a green t-shirt.
Image: Julia Minamata.
The video game rapidly ends up being more intricate and layered, however Minamata stated she didn’t desire The Crimson Diamond to be penalizing, like early text parsers could be. (If you get stuck, Minamata put a complete tip guide online; there’s no other way to just get stuck so terribly you’ll need to stop playing.) The parser itself is a bit more flexible with words, for example. You can’t mistakenly advance the video game in such a way that has you missing out on crucial hints. It does not have the simple, sudden deaths of The Colonel’s Bequest, either. “That’s something you need to work for,” Minamata stated. “My type of puzzle is the concept of something so simple that you would believe to perform in reality that, for some reason, simply slips our mind when playing a video game. However if you do it, you get rewarded by, Hey, you made it through the shower this time.”.
These tweaks do not make The Crimson Diamond simple, by any means, however they do decrease disappointment, enabling you to actually dig in and take pleasure in the world– not fear it.
The Crimson Diamond was launched Aug. 15 on Mac and Windows PC. The video game was evaluated on Windows PC utilizing a pre-release download code supplied by Julia Minamata. Vox Media has affiliate collaborations. These do not affect editorial material, though Vox Media might make commissions for items acquired by means of affiliate links. You can discover extra details about Polygon’s principles policy here.
