THE REWINDER
After a recent trip to China, I’ve become fascinated by the weird (and wonderful) moments that occur when communicating between Chinese languages and English. In our hotel, an English translation read “the child in the” to mean ‘baby pool’. Amazing. There’s a Chinese restaurant in Chatswood called Memory Tongue. What an inspiring name! I’m not sure their plans for release, but The Rewinder currently contains some Chinese lettering. My phone translated a lamp’s description as “fragrant lamp”, “pub lantern” and “lantern for all wine”.
I’d love if games were more of an avenue for sharing culture. This story is based on Chinese mythology, folklore and belief. The opening cutscene certainly hooked me; “I was somehow raised within The Beyond, a place where souls live before reentering the living world.” You’re tasked with the most amazing thing; “Soul number 217 needs to return to this (living) village.” They have “fated parents”. Can they be (re)born if one hasn’t been seen in 7 years? There’s time to ponder these questions, as you explore quiet soundscapes and muted pixel art.
As a point-and-click adventure, puzzling combines finding/using objects and interpreting visual clues. There’s a slider puzzle that requires you to see the solution, rather than experiment. There are instructions to follow and patterns to remember. You can also time travel to the past, to change aspects of the present, and this promises to be a central mechanic. I loved trying to phoneread the Chinese characters, in search of clues and contextual information. The Rewinder promises to be a beautiful experience and I’m excited to learn more, at release.