In the Castle

Name: In the Castle

Developer: Muffle

Story: So far, the best of Muffle's games, but I have yet to play her others. You play an outcast unloved and unwanted by his family and friends. Called hideous, called worthless, he's sent to a tower where none have ever returned from and where a princess is held captive at the top. If he should be the one to rescue the princess, the king, by national decree, has promised that whoever frees her will have her hand in marriage. Will he make it through the puzzles of the tower and prove his worth?



Writing: The writing is nothing short of amazing. When you play a short RTP game, you just never expect this, and it really is great when it happens. Well written, it evokes despondency from the beginning and brings you to acceptance and comfort at the end, but the crushing loneliness never really vacates the atmosphere until the very end.

Gameplay: This is a puzzle game. The puzzles are simple, but all really well thought out. None of them are too difficult. The game provides a very reasonable challenge for the relatively short story that it presents. It can be played in about 10 to 20 minutes.

Graphics: As I previously said, they are RTP style (you can tell from the wall tile they're not actually RTP), and as you can see from the above map, used reasonably well.

Sound: Some very mournful pieces from Incompetech comprise the music. It all seems to be very nicely done.

Conclusion: I can't deny it. Muffle really did an excellent job here with very emotional storytelling and a very good message. I absolutely do recommend this to absolutely anyone. You can say it's like any other RPG Maker puzzle game, but it is absolutely not. This is as unique and stand out as any RPG Maker game could be.