The Gift

A new king is born and we're just a little kid that wants to bring him a gift... and in this case the gift will be music. But the journey to Bethlehem isn't an easy one...

The Gift (of music) is a short game made by Pianotm for the 2021 Christmas game jam, and let us play as a kid drummer that has to complete some tasks to complete in order to leave his nameless village and perform in front of the new king.
The game is a little adventure game set in winter that consists mainly in some search-and-scavenge tasks in which he has to collect some items found in the wilderness, be them herbs or pieces of wood.

The gameplay is pretty simple: just go around, talk to people and note what they need, then explore the surroundings carefully and collect the needed items! Sometimes you have to revisit the maps you've probably already explored but this is necessary just a couple of times so I do not mind, anyway look with great attention to the tiny details since some objects are hidden pretty well!


Thanks for the help, Phoebe. However I am aware that you are Claire from "The Alchemist and the Owl"! I remember you well!

The game is quite short, there are a total of about twenty maps but these are all well made and I also did not notice any error or problem. The only thing is that the counter that list the items found so far (there is no menu and no possibility to save, but it's ok since it's a pretty short game) is quite big and sometimes it obscures some parts of the maps despite the dark transparent background. However, that's ever a problem, since these obscured areas of the maps becomes useful or interesting only *after* collecting all the items.

So mapping is good, everything (I believe, still I am not sure, I've some doubts on the bridge, the items we have to find and the tree with the red fruits on the map below) uses the White Screw assets pack, this includes charsets, facesets and chipsets. These create a believable and coherent styled world and are also well used. I also like how the items we have to search are easy enough to spot, but still not SO easy that you will notice them immediately! Good choice here for colors and definition, this was one of the most important graphic choice and it was well done.

Music... eh with the game where the title refers to the gift of music, there should be music, and here we have the classic Christmas carol, the appropriate Little Drummer Boy, plus some updated MV versions of original 2003 RTP music. Not bad, not bad at all, because it's classic but fits the game perfectly, and I also like how the starting menu screen music is the same of the ending, coming full circle with it. Cool choice.


The journey has just started, but we're at the end of the review, so be ready for the...

Final Verdict
This is a short but cute complete game with a simple but nice concept. The story is short, there are few important characters, still it's a well written tale, clearly appropriate for the Christmas jam theme. It's good if you have 15 minutes to kill and want to play a relaxing little game (despite being made in a really short time it delivers what it promises), nothing new or spectacular, but competently and professionally well made adventure of a little guy.