Developer: Kaleidoscube
Steam Deck Compatibility?: Verified
Rrp: £12.99 (Gog.com. Humblebundle, Steam and Epic)
Lately I’ve been listening to a podcast called ‘Slightly Something Else’ on which Yahtzee Crowshaw (one of the hosts) mentioned a term I believe he coined in a Zero Punctuation video (the game critique series that he is known for creating) which is ‘small child in a scary world’. I’m sure you know the sort; Limbo, Inside, Little Nightmares etc. Well, A Jugglers Tale is one of those, though I should add its not as horrific or bleak as the ones I mentioned.
In A Jugglers Tale you play as Abby, a puppet in a puppet show. In fact this whole game is portrayed as a puppet show, complete with a narrator guiding your way. Each character in this game, including Abby, has strings attached and those strings are physical entities. What I mean by this is that because of the strings you can’t go ‘under’ anything, the strings must always be unbroken and will physically stop you from progressing ‘under’ objects. As much as the strings sound like a hindrance they also can be a boon, you can use those strings to interact with objects to solve puzzles.
Remember how I mentioned the narrator? Yeah, as you play you find that he’s not just some disembodied voice, he’s an important part of the story and game. I would love to get into how he is, but I don’t wish to spoil it for those that want to give the game a go. Lets just say I liked the direction they took with it.
So do I recommend this game? I do actually, it’s a bit of a short game being maybe two or three hours long but I think this game gives you your moneys worth.
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