Would you like to be in your favorite movie or video game? Even if not the main character, but an important character who will not only see everything from the inside, but also be able to influence the plot.
The authors of The Bookwalker from the small studio Do My Best, who created The Final Station, offer to go to a world where all has become real. But instead of films and games, our hero can get into almost any book. Into worlds created by writers.
The hero is even able to take unique things in the game: be it the hammer of Thor, the sword Excalibur or the potion of immortality.
Writer Smuggler
A near fantastic future. The writer Etienne Quist committed some extremely serious crime. Now his works are removed from sale, and the author himself is sentenced to 30 years of work in a book publishing house. Quist understands how quickly convicts go crazy and die. He decides to get rid of his problems in a not entirely legal way.
The writer becomes a kind of thief and smuggler. He finds people who seem to be able to break open his handcuffs. But for this, the hero will have to visit six books and transfer six of the most valuable items from them into reality.
Each time getting into a new world, Etienne is literally lost there. The setting is new for both the protagonist and the players. We know our goal, we know a rough description of what is happening in this universe, but at first we don’t even know where to go and what to do…
Roderick Fellow
Fortunately, Quist’s fellow traveler in all the book travels is not the most ordinary character. The writer calls him Roderick because “Roderick” himself doesn’t remember his name. It seems that there was an “x” in his name, and also, perhaps, he was a doctor … Anyway, Roderick knows the plots of the books that we are about to visit. He will give advice to Etienne on what to do next or how best to act in a particular situation.
If at first Quist appears before us as a cynic who will do everything necessary to achieve his goal, then Roderick becomes his conscience and moral compass. Etienne quickly becomes attached to the mysterious character, and after a while feels somehow wrong without him.
Mixed Emotions in Amazing Worlds
The beauty of The Bookwalker is that you almost always feel the exciting spirit of adventure. And sometimes your imagination and perception work as if you barely have time to realize what you thought up and saw. And at the same time, the brightest feelings appear: joy, fun, admiration, fear … Such a small game – and so little is needed for something amazing.
At the same time, without getting tired of one world, you immediately find yourself in a new one. Even more wonderfully strange or just different. And between travels through the books, we wander through the reality of Quist and learn about him, his neighbors, as well as about the past and the whole world of the hero.
Playing The Bookwalker is like diving into Christopher Nolan’s Inception. One – and you are in the world of a hero. Similar to ours, but somewhat simplified and modified. Two – and your hero in virtual reality of the second level. Here you will find fading magic in the analogue of Hogwarts, post-apocalypse or a dystopian future like Warhammer 40,000. Three – and who knows how long you can plunge into these dreams within a dream …
Simple and Short Game
But don’t expect too much from The Bookwalker. This is a very small game that can be completed in less than six hours. If you do not read carefully, if you go strictly to the goal, and do not waste time thinking. But this way you will not get even a tenth of the pleasure of playing Do My Best. For game lovers, you’ll love playing slots. On some online platforms, you don’t need to have a deposit. It is the case of sweet sweet bonanza no deposit, where you get to play slot for free.
The gameplay of the game is a quest with a simple combat system and role-playing elements. You get to locations with a number of interactive objects and characters with whom we can somehow interact. Most often to communicate, periodically choosing one or another answer option. For the most part, the choice in the game is illusory, and what needs to happen will happen. But sometimes the plot of the book does not develop according to plan, and only closer to the end you decide what the final will be.
One of the themes of The Bookwalker is the treatment of book characters as objects or subjects. That is, as to objects or equal people with their desires, fears and thoughts. The choice of the player is mainly built around this attitude. We can lie and use the people we meet, or take the risk of telling the truth, helping and even saving the “locals”. When it’s possible.
But no matter how rustic The Bookwalker may ultimately seem, the game pleases much more than it can upset. The only thing that really saddens is the crumpled ending. Everything ends too quickly … Although the idea with the epilogue turns out to be excellent.