A Collection Aside
Can you believe MEGHANN O’NEILL has attended five PAXs Australia? Here is this year’s proof: 13 indies from the 2017 collection, including games/demos you can play now, many at accessible prices. This year was notable for its outstanding student projects
RUMU DEVELOPER ROBOT HOUSE • P RICE TBA rumugame.com
Being a mostly “work from home mum”, attending PAX each year requires asking someone else to manage the household for a few days. This year, Ken had organised to go kayaking with mates over the same weekend and joked that we needed some kind of “smart house” to feed the kids and put them to bed. Rumu is a timely reminder that human babysitters, like grandparents, are still a good option. This narrative adventure/puzzle game may initially appear cute, but it’s soon clear that something has gone horribly wrong. Why am I cleaning so much “sauce?” Where are the house’s occupants?
“Sentient robot vacuum cleaner as protagonist,” isn’t something I ever expected to type in a preview, yet here we are. Another main character is the house’s AI who, rather ominously, wants to discuss an overriding need to protect and love. Rumu’s appeal relies on this intersection of surprising characters and relatable story. I may not be a robot, but I can respond to ethical dilemmas that riff on universal themes. It’s like reading a classic science fiction short story, by a writer like Brian Aldiss, and being asked “what if” with the suggestion of agency over narrative outcomes. I love it.
Mechanically, the demo requires paying attention to subtle details and learning to route power for problem solving. Although I quickly cracked the last puzzle, I had the odd sense that I could also set fire to the lounge room, if I could just figure out a final step. Could I? Would I? I’m interested to learn more. Driving Rumu around can be mildly frustrating, especially when you’re trying to just clean up the last 2% of “sauce,” but this is surely very faithful to the robot vacuum cleaning experience. I think, if you’ll pardon the pun, we can expect this game to be a very polished experience ( You’re fired - Ed.).