Quench

This is a cool looking puzzle and strategy game with a unique art style. It is a linear, narrative based game that reminds me of a board game where you can move pieces. As the shepherd, you guide animal herds and restore the land. Each level is formed like a puzzle that you need to solve to move on to the next one. Player experience is very nice and relaxing, with great looking visuals and soothing soundtrack - I enjoyed playing through the well designed levels with the richly animated characters where every piece fits each other. The game feels really slick with a high production value. Kudos to the developers for creating a coherent and consistent experience with a lot of heart. One thing to note is that there is a lot of text to read. I for one, don't have the patience to go through it all, and prefer the TLDR version - but that's just my preference, and it doesn't get in the way of enjoying the game. Overall a great little game, definitely worth its price. Highly recommended!

Quench is an absolutely gorgeous game. The papercraft style is unique and modern, and yet blends seamlessly into the tone and setting of the game. The music completes the sensory experience and each track selected perfectly suits the challenges. Personally I found the puzzles to be just the right difficulty; I could pass through the vast majority of them the first time, but despite this I never felt like a level was too easy for me. Each still required thought and perception to be able to complete. The real draw is the story, however, which has a beautiful message of preservation and respect for nature without being overt and in-your-face. However, this is a relatively short game. Quench took me around 4-5 hours to complete the first time. As there are no achievements at the moment I am not sure what the replay value is for finding additional secrets or different ways of completing challenges. I feel that the game would benefit from a 'points' system for each challenge to determine how 'well' it was completed, e.g. keeping all of the animals alive for the highest score, completing within a certain time, and so on. With more replay value, I feel that Quench will earn it's price tag.

VIDEO REVIEW: https://youtu.be/RaVqmtJpwfI When it's been a long day at work and I just want to relax, I just want to do one thing, listen to some good music and drift away into another world. This can be done with a good book, movie or occasionally an FPS if I'm in a bad mood. There are, however, times when a puzzle game is just the ticket. Quench was that game for me this month, its beautiful soundtrack and art took me away and the puzzles kept my attention and challenged me as I journeyed through on this virtual pilgrimage. I've yet to witness the ending at the time of writing this review, but the narrative is very poetically written. A story of a variety of animal herds migrating from polluted and drylands to reach greener fields. The word pilgrimage is used very often and it has that spiritual essence to the dialogue and the narration. To help them on this pilgrimage is you. The fruit of the elder tree brought forth you as a spiritual bird to guide the 6 herds of the kingdom. It really makes you feel involved, you end up caring for these animals and grow an attachment to the leaders. Their safety is your main concern. We all know that in real life animals migrate year-round and that often pollution and blocked rivers are dangers to them. This story pushes the envelope in getting you to empathise more, getting the animals from news headlines to a bird's eye view of the struggles you will save them from. This game was made with a message, but that didn't stop the developers from forgetting that it's still a game and needs to be fun. I am truly delighted with this. Too many games have focused too hard on story and art, only to forget they are making a game. Being a puzzle game, I will focus on that aspect. There are 4 different powers you can use in different situations. To clear paths, block enemies and support your herds. Each power is surprisingly versatile in what it can do and they are introduced one by one to learn them all effectively. Quench doesn't hold your hand with the tutorials or ever give hints as to what to do to solve puzzles, but they don't leave you guessing either. I'd say that is a well-designed game, wouldn't you? As mentioned when I was talking about the story, the game is very good at building empathy. When clearing the path for your herd, it switches to a lemmings style mechanic where they will blindly trust you and keep moving (so you better have done a good job removing obstacles). Unlike lemmings, these are your children, your babies, you care for them and if even just one dies?... well I've restarted many times to rectify that. Not many games are good at generating empathy... sympathy maybe, but not empathy. Matching the sweeping poetry of the writing and story is a lovely soundtrack and a beautiful art style I've not seen often. It's almost like pixels, but it's not. Opting for shaded triangles instead of squares gives it a unique look. Most of the game takes place overhead, seeing as you are a spiritual bird, that makes sense. When it is time to dive into the narrative, it takes a cinematic approach with very little animation. To me it resembles a tapestry, a story told from one painted scene to another with colours to match the tones of earth and nature. Although no voice-overs were recorded for this game, they had done a wonderful job of creating motifs to accompany each different character, bringing personality and voice to them without actors. Papercraft! That's the word I was looking for to describe the art, gorgeous is another word. After experiencing the story and thoroughly enjoying the puzzles, I have to wholeheartedly recommend this game. The story is truly as beautiful as the music and art. Not just beautiful but subtle and I love that about it. If you enjoy relaxing with a puzzle that isn't easy, but it's just hard enough to satisfyingly complete, then throw away that Sudoku and get started on this pilgrimage.

A very adorable, simplistic game with a very unique puzzle system. It seems easy at first, but quickly proves itself to be a fun and fascinating challenge that encourages you to learn it out. The basic polygonal design to the art style makes it a small load of a game, therefore making it easier to get into the actual game itself, with few technical issues. The story also lends the game an intriguing bait to entice you through the puzzles, giving you the motivation and the curiosity to accomplish them and figure out what happens next. The developers also have a small dedicated Discord server, and they are all creative, hard-working, kind people who truly love their game and appreciate the support they've received so far.

这款游戏很棒，音乐做的很好，剧情也很有意思，玩家设定很符合上帝视角，适合喜欢野生动物的玩家们游玩。 希望以后可以支持中文。 I hope there will be a version of Chinese in the future. Thank you!

I have participated to the kickstarter of this little puzzle game and I really dig the artstyle. It's a fun game and it's also available on the Nintendo Switch. It's a nice one to have on the go 😊

かわいい象さんのゲームだと思って買いましたが 良い方向に裏切られました。 操作はシンプルだけどテキストや構成に筋があり ただ　“かわいい”　だけのゲームではありません。 印象的なのにプレイの邪魔をしないBGMも素敵です。 もしかしたら、人によっては、一度クリアしたら もういいや、と思うゲームかもしれません。 でも、わたしは同じレベルを何度も反復しています。 ゲームであると同時に愛読書のような作品だからです。

Guiding animals through the wasteland has never been so fun and challenging! I was worried this game might be easy but I'm not even to the baboons and it is kicking my butt! I even restarted a level because ONE elephant died right at the last river crossing and I couldn't bear to move on knowing if I just redid the level I could easily prevent it and move on with all of them.

Long ago, the animals lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the smokebeasts attacked. Only the Shepard, master of all elements, could stop them.

A kind shepherd, herding a bunch of mangy hephalumps through a treacherous landscape of earthquakes and smokebeasts, by solving weather-controlling puzzles. A delicately told narrative with a message. [i]Please follow my curator page,[/i] [b][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/6856591-Designer-Plays/]Designer Plays[/url][/b],[i] for a truly massive number of concise and honest reviews from a 25-year veteran Game Designer.[/i]