Drawn®: The Painted Tower

[b]Imagination and curiosity are some of the most compelling forces in the world and are often portrayed and cherished amongst eternal ideas of youth and childhood. It’s these concepts Big Fish Games have used with [i]Drawn[/i] to build a story, playing on universal archetypes of the fairytale to celebrate imagination.[/b] [list][h1]Pros[/h1] [*]Ephemeral soundtrack that creates a subdued atmosphere [*]Gorgeous graphics that bring the paper book world to life [*]Story is an ode to imagination and creativity [h1]Cons[/h1] [*]Sometimes the abstract angles can make it difficult to see where to go [*]Lack of widescreen or HD support[/list] The threat that hangs over Iris (the princess of an unknown land) is a mysterious quantity. A menace that seeps through the edges of the screen, hiding in the somber tones, and darker hues. And it’s this mystery that compels you forward. [i]Drawn[/i] has superbly married its themes, art, story, and gameplay. It’s an ode to fairytales and the childish power of imagination embodied in its elusive princess and disembodied protagonist. Tied together with the whimsy and wonder that only storybooks can portray. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1768742807 Whilst the story is definitely lacking in many areas, Iris herself is well fleshed out. The princess reveals herself through the objects and friends she has created to assuage her lonely life, entrapped in a tower. Her fertile imagination has given rise to varied lands and places through which you explore, and whilst in the beginning this seems akin to the normal imaginings of a child, such as sunny days and windmills, the darker aspects of her life begin to intrude until rather more fearsome beasts come out of the shadows to stand in the way of your progress. The tower through which you ascend to reach Iris is the literal figure of her power entombing both her and her creations is a significant hurdle. The progression of your journey slowly making each new area accessible, is punctuated with these encounters, from the comedic to the tragic. Notes left about give further insight into Iris’s concerns and worries, her motivations, and her dreams. That slowly brings to light the true nature of her situation. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1768743120 Throughout the game, the deft use of abstract symbolism, tied to the commonly accepted requirements of such tales, weaves together the tapestry of Iris’s dreams. The usual bizarreness of puzzle-games solutions perfectly fits the oneiric logic of Iris’s world. Finding birds or having paper keys turn into real ones feels natural, an extension of the dream rather than frustratingly moronic, a problem that adventure games have grappled with throughout their history. Navigating the tower is easy enough, using the traditional screen by screen movement, with the contextual cursor changing to indicate when you can progress. At some points the directions are obscure, the contorted walls obscuring possible ways to move, as well as the cursor not just moving forward, back or left and right but sometimes diagonally, and only activating on a small section of the screen. Likewise, the puzzles can be similarly obtuse, whilst the game does provide you hints, attempting a more challenging playthrough without them, can leave you floundering slightly. But for all this the puzzle designs themselves are superb. There are many varieties on display, and they meld beautifully with the world. From classic picture puzzles to pattern recognition and riddles, no puzzle is ever repeated. Combined with the normal mechanics of a point and click adventure, sans combining items and you have the basis for Drawn’s design. There is much that will be familiar to veterans of the genre but the brilliance of the presentation leaves the experience of playing to be an unorthodox one. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1768743617 The graphics are part of this, with their detailed vistas and sharp surreal interiors. The world within the tower is contorted by the fantasies that shape it, and this is enhanced by unique perspectives the artists thrust upon you to view each world. The colours themselves lack definition, with pale shadows that just give a slight hint of depth. It feels very much like a paper cut out world, primarily 2-dimensional but with just a hint of 3d. Of course, this is intentional a hint at the storybook aesthetic the game cultivates, both within the general environment as well as in specific scenes, that are in fact paper dioramas. Sadly though despite the beautiful visuals the game has low resolutions, and doesn’t support HD or widescreen. It is possible to stretch it to full screen, and in most of the landscapes this is fairly effective but it significantly detracts and distorts the puzzle sequences. The soundtrack that accompanies it all is superb, the orchestral tracks are somber and moody with wailing violins that sound like rushing wind through empty corridors and synthetic voices that create an aura of gloom. It’s fitting considering the state of the kingdom, and the tower itself. This is sometimes juxtaposed with pieces composed in a more favourable key, yet with slow melodies, the tempo keeping the music unintrusive and yet still atmospheric. There is sadly very little voice acting but what is present is acceptable. Enough emotion is delivered and variation in tone so as not to sound robotic, but it has minimal importance to the game as a whole. [i]Drawn: The Painted Tower[/i] is a beautifully crafted game, with its familiar yet original puzzles and the integration of each area of play to deliver an entertaining package. This is one of the most beautiful interpretations of fairytales into gameplay, and whilst quite short (taking approximately three hours or so to complete will offer a fantastic escape for the duration. [h1]8/10 ~Effervescent~[/h1] My review for the sequel Dark Flight is available [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/deisophia/recommended/451140]here[/url] [quote]If you enjoyed this review please follow my curator [b][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/34987471/]Virtual Visions[/url][/b] for more recommendations. [/quote]

[b]Drawn 1: The Painted Tower[/b] (Adventure-lite) Options include separate sliders for Music, SFX and Brightness, plus Full-screen, Aspect Ratio (uncheck to stretch to full-screen with no black bars on the sides) and Custom Cursor. The [i]Drawn[/i] series is charming and environmental, and I've really not seen anything else quite like it. This is a tale of darkness and light, and there's a magical quality to them. Traverse the tower, entering enchanted paintings as you go, and find Iris before The Darkness can. Gameplay is simple, as far as adventures go. There is no difficulty setting, so I'm afraid you're stuck with having sparkles on your scenes. Your cursor will change to a hand any time there is something you can pick up, and will change to a puzzle piece if you need to use an inventory item. [b]HINTS [/b]are tiered, and are obtained by clicking on the picture of our narrator, Franklin. Franklin is wonderfully-voiced, setting the tone for the game beautifully. The sound effects and music, combined with his narration tell a story that is somber, but never gloomy. There are [b]30 Steam and in-game achievements[/b], and a few of them require you to complete puzzles before the [b]SKIP[/b] meter can finish loading, so they can't all be obtained simply by playing the game. The puzzles themselves are mostly imaginative - not just the usual fare that we've seen time and time again. [i]Drawn[/i] is a magical world that was truly a pleasure to revisit. This game would be great for those who enjoy immersing themselves in a story, and those who are looking for a not-so-challenging adventure to play.

[h1]Short version: 91%[/h1] Drawn may be old, but its strong visual theme, excellent soundtrack, clever puzzle design, and engaging story still rank it among the very best of casual adventure games. [h1]Long version:[/h1] Many casual gamers hail the Drawn trilogy as one of the best lightweight adventure games ever created, and mostly with good reasons. They excel at creating a magical atmosphere through music, visual themes, and by promoting the sheer power of imagination through creativity. The latter are also the core plot elements in the series, as we soon learn in this first game, where we start out as a nameless stranger who happens on the titular Painted Tower. We learn from its petrified caretaker that we must save a girl named Iris, whose imagination is so strong that she can bring any of her paintings to live, making her the last spark of creativity in an oppressively bleak world. The paintings are of course a good excuse to add a nice variety in scenery and puzzle elements, both of which form a singular gameplay entity with the excellent soundtrack and visual style to present an immersive, magical adventure game. From a technical standpoint, its late 2009 standard of a low resolution and some issues with click detection can sit uncomfortable, but these are just insignificant inconveniences compared to the overall game quality.

One of the most innovative light adventures of it's time( but it has stood the test of time and is every bit as charming as I remember) I played on windows 7 so my experience may be different to those using windows 10. If you like point and click games this should be an essential addition to your game library. The puzzles vary in difficulty between very easy to ones which really make one think outside the box. My ONLY con is, the game crashed if I travelled from one area to the other ( this was not from scene to scene but from areas quite a distance from each other. I even tried windowing the game but it still happened. But I didn't lose progress thankfully so it's a small issue. ) Heartily recommended

初中的时候玩了很多Big Fish和G5的游戏，谜画之塔是其中比较喜欢的一作！当时玩这个游戏的时候觉得可以进入画中世界好酷啊！ 前几年在steam补了票，这两天突然想做全成就又打了2.5遍。 个人感觉最难的可能是Nailed it这个成就，第一遍玩的时候想了好久，完全无法在限时内完成，因为开局排列是随机的所以也不像别的谜题那样可以直接抄作业。本人最不擅长的就是这种涉及到位置排列类型的谜题，总是感觉牵一发而动全身（？）每次只能乱点一通。后来尝试着先把外圈的五个小球排列好，再调整内圈，竟然在新周目里成功地快速完成了！（不过没把握的话还是先备份存档比较好！）

Arriving at the bottom of a tower, you discover that a little girl is imprisonned in it, being gifted and pursued by the evil king. Franklin, the one that hide her, can't do anything as magic has taken the tower but he reveals that you can go into worlds created in paintings... Drawn: The Painted Tower is the first game of a trilogy, where drawings can act as portals to other worlds. The main idea is to use this opportunity to find items that will lead you to Iris. While the main plot is revealed little by little, I'll be honest: it's not really the focus here. You don't have anybody on your tails or pursuing someone, you're just trying to reach a little girl by solving puzzles. The gameplay is the standard one in this game except for a missing feature: there are no hidden objects scenes. You can say that it's just to find items, use them, combine them and solves riddles and puzzles. However, trust me, it's not boring at all. Objects aren't necessarily easy to find but they're making sense. Everything is making sense, even the actions. Besides, you can find clues thanks to letters or notes scattered around. The graphics are more close to drawings, however, they're very somber apart for the paintings themselves: a farm in the sunset, a witch doctor in the jungle, a dragon cave, a griffon castle (though it's an ice landscape), a forest during the night (perhaps the only real dark painting) and a giant tree. It"s really changing from the rest of the genre out there. The soundtrack is also marvellous: very fitting in each scene. Achievements are also included and ingame, once unlocked, they're for all the profiles. However, what's the problem here? I had several crashes. I returned to Windows, with the game closed but the .exe still running. I had to terminate. Once, it was even switching between the game and Windows. I had to do a CTRL-ALT-DELETE to open the task manager to stop this infernal switch. But despite this, Drawn: The Painted Tower is a fabulous tale. However, you do know what I'll recommend you: to buy it during a sale. Seriously, Big Fish is planning to release the last game of the trilogy and I've to try Dark Flight before. Given the fact that I bought the CE and the SE edition, because I've misread the title, I'll make a comparison of the two versions soon.

Mittelmäßiges Spiel mit gutem Artdesign.

The game will probably bring you back to one of the bizzarre dreams you ever had or mostly used to have during long sleeps. A cute and short game with puzzles that can be skipped if you just wish to enjoy the story as if you are reading a magical fictional novel.

I did not encounter bugs and crashes mentioned in other reviews. I am also not frustrated by puzzles not being explained, figuring it out is part of the puzzle! I really enjoyed both art and music. My problem with the game is that in the description it is not made clear enough that this is only a chapter of a series. I am willing to forgive a lot for a good story, even a short one, but here the story is incomplete.

Wonderful puzzle game, highly recommended. Excellent art and music; voices fit well when used. Obviously not originally designed for wide-screen, but still lovely and works well in full screen mode. Notes: - this is a puzzle game (not hidden object or similar) - this is reasonably classed as an adventure/point n click game; however, it is short and easy for a true "adventure" game, although some of the puzzles are moderately challenging, and **there is little to no hand-holding unless you use hints** - the story is short and not especially complicated, but it does draw you in - the ending is somewhat abrupt; you *do* complete your main task, and there *is* a good ending cut-scene, but it's a bit of a cliff-hanger (I haven't played the sequel yet) - there are moments when it feels like a game for younger players, and I could see playing it with kids; I still recommend it without reservation for adults who enjoy puzzles and atmospheric stories