CHICORY: A COLORFUL TALE
Developer Greg Lobanov, Alexis Dean-Jones, Lena Raine, Madeline Berger, A Shell In The Pit Publisher Finji Format PC, PS4, PS5
Games that emphasise creativity are not only plentiful nowadays, but also account for some of the biggest hits. Looking at the blank canvas and impressive range of tools many offer, though, we confess that we often find ourselves unsure of where to start. Chicory can’t compete with the tools of Minecraft or Dreams: it has just one, a brush which leaves MS Paint-style scribbles on the world. Over the course of your adventure, this lone tool does reveal hidden depths, but Chicory’s real genius lies in how it sidesteps the inspiration problem entirely, by making creativity a byproduct of simply playing the game.
The world of Picnic is filled with plants which respond to your paint: trees which shrink or grow into walkways, spring-loaded branches that fire you over gaps, bulbous bombs which clear obstacles. Each leaves a stroke of colour on the monochrome landscape, prompting you to wonder: wouldn’t a little complementary purple make this look less of a mess? An accidental double-tap reveals a fill function, creating an effect different to the one you’d intended. Now, what about those custom brush shapes you just unlocked? It’s often only after stopping and leaving for the next screen, the next blank canvas, that you realise you’ve made something to treasure.
As the mechanical complexity of your brush (and its creative potential) grows, and the story deepens, taking in questions of mental health and what it means to create something, you’re building something of your own. This culminates in the year’s greatest credits sequence, and perhaps its finest moment full stop: a montage of places you’ve been, your paint applied in time lapse, before it pulls out to show the world map coloured in. The sense of ownership is immense, how Minecraft master builders must feel as they survey their works, without requiring any of the talent, dedication or planning on our part. Ideal.