This game is one of those simple yet challenging puzzle/atmospheric experiences that I like so much, coupling an emotional storyline with some intrincate puzzle gameplay. It's a very nice game, and a good choice for people who like cute stories and interesting puzzles. It does have some flaws here and there, but that doesn't stop it from being a pretty pleasant and promising short demo.

PRESENTATION AND STORY

The environments in this short demo always feel appropriately serene and pretty, yet with a slightly sorrowful tone to them. The maps in this demo depict a nice place in the countryside surrounded by thick patches of trees, with autumn leaves falling down and lovely acoustic guitar/flute music that really sets the pleasant mood of this piece. The only flaw I found with the maps is that the shadows of the surrounding are sometimes weird (like, shadows cut off in a perfectly straight line parallel to tile borders), and some bushes are cut off in weird ways (especially by the pier).

The title screen looks okay. It's not as lovely as the game itself, but it does its job, except it reads "Quincy and Esther" rather than "Quincy and Amber", which is weird. Cashmere probably changed the little sister's name and forgot to change the title screen. I'm assuming they didn't go back to change it because the game is on hiatus, meaning it never got finished, and it will take a while until anything actually starts happening in it :(

The story follows two siblings, Quincy and Amber, who have recently lost their parents, and have to continue life by themselves, always helping each other out while being in a world that simply doesn't care. Their adorable brotherly love is made clear right in the intro dialogs, where Quincy talks to Amber about his wish to always protect her. Amber sounds like a very intelligent, but very innocent child, and she's adorable. The story has that emotional quality, where both siblings feel lost in a world that simply doesn't care and is never safe. In this short demo, not much about the story is revealed, unfortunately, but it does give us the feeling that this is going to be a feels trip. Not a harsh one, a cute one, hopefully.

As you follow on through the first part of the game, every sign you find along the way seems to have a somewhat negative message in them, like "East: nothing at all" or "I'll order an airstrike if you go any further" or "better yet, don't use these docks at all." It feels like they represent the sadness both siblings are feeling about the tragedy that led them to this quest.

The description of the story in the project page states that it is, for now, just a placeholder. I hope that, whenever the story gets changed, it retains this original feeling. I have to say that the story, while getting it right in feeling and mood, is certainly lacking in polish, so better writing would help make its best characteristics stand out more, hopefully.

GAMEPLAY

In this game, you take control of the two siblings simultaneously, with Quincy being moved by the arrow keys and able to interact with things by pressing CONFIRM, and Amber being controlled by WASD, but unable to interact with things. The idea behind these simultaneous controls is that you can choose to play by yourself or with a friend. The one problem I found with the basic controls is that Amber's walking frequency seems to be a bit off, she seems to walk in stretches punctuated by brief "freezes", which is weird and a bit annoying.

This short demo features puzzles with colored buttons and colored blocks, and holding down a button with a sibling leads the blocks to alternate their positions (the blocks that are open close, and those that are closed open). The puzzle concept is simple, but makes for some nicely intrincate problems in this short demo, and I really like them. Unfortunately, it is kinda unlikely you'd be able to successfully play these first puzzles with a friend, unless you both agreed exactly on what the next move should be (which would kinda defeat the purpose), but that's not a big problem, since this section works just fine in single player, and I had a great time with it.

OVERALL

Given that this is just a short demo, I'm not gonna give it a review score, but if I were to do so, it'd be a solid 3.5/5

This game shows a lot of promise. I really like the cute story, which I hope doesn't shock me in the future, and the atmosphere feels appropriately relaxing, yet sorrowful. The puzzle gameplay posed quite a challenge, and made me want more. A part of me would really like to know how these two figure out their lives after the tragedy that struck it.

Too bad it's cut short for being just a very early demo of a project that's been on hiatus for the longest time now. I wonder if Cash intends to return to this one day, I'd love that.