Swamp Motel – The Mermaid’s Tongue
Location: Online
Game Date: 14/10/2020
Team: Amy, Ian, Gord, Liz, Charlie & James
Duration: 60 minutes
The Mermaid’s Tongue is the Sequel to Plymouth Point, I highly recommend that you play Plymouth Point first as it sets up the world that is continued in the Mermaid’s Tongue.
Theme:
“Discover it… before they do.
Your help is needed to track down an ancient lost artefact.
Thrown into a murky underworld, you’ll have to hack into CCTV, outbid a high-end art dealer, and decipher messages from beyond the grave.
Every click will immerse you deeper in the mystery. What is the Mermaid’s Tongue? And who are the dark forces who will stop at nothing to beat you to it?
Let the hunt begin…”
The Mermaid’s Tongue starts off innocently enough with an invitation to an online art course. The immersion and storytelling throughout is exceptional, with the use of a dedication video chat in the “art course” which serves as a communication hub. The bulk of the game takes place around the web. Whilst one person was asked to screen share, we all couldn’t see this screen. This would have been an additional benefit if we could have seen one screen and all played from that screen, rather than us all jumping off into the web individually as some players inevitbly got left behind with slower connections or webpage troubles. It could easily feel as if we were all taking the journey individually rather that as a team. Luckily our team is great at communication so that didn’t happen too often.
All that being said, the production values were excellent, with a fantastic use of web/visual/audio to create an augmented reality. The world that Swamp Motel have created is well rounded and we look forward to experiencing the next installment.
Game Play:
A linear game that took us on a twisted trek through the web, using sleuthing, observational and team work skills. Whilst there were not 100% strict “puzzles” the interesting use of the internet provided an opporutiny to deliver unique content in an augmented reality setting. There were a few codebreaking and logic puzzles slide into the game. This was done skillfuly and it only aided the development of the story.
The game had several Ah-ha moments, which were discovery based,. This discovery kept us engaged and entertained throughout
The game was wholelly logical, every single moment was meticulously crafted to give a fully immersive experience.
Signposting was good, subtle and in theme.
The game flowed perfectly, with there being no sticky moments or frustrating points. There are a couple of moments in the game where outside knowledge is a helpful thing to have.
A true experience, which when combined with Plymouth Point (seriously play that first) creates a undulating underworld, the likes of which you do not want to get tied up in (well, actually you do! It’s an exhiliarting journey!)
Clue System:
we didn’t use any clues, but I would think they would come through the art course’s web chat function
Game Host:
You don’t specifically meet your game host through the game, they are there in the background playing characters throughout. They monitor your game to make sure you’re doing the right thing !
Website: https://www.themermaidstongue.com/
Price:
£15 per person
Brit of an Escape Habit 