I played Babbdi, a walking sim game by Lemaitre Bros, on Steam. This walking sim intended for anyone seeking a quick exploration game they can play on PC has a mysterious dynamic that I learned to really appreciate. Overall, the objective of the game was to find a train ticket to board the train and leave Babbdi. The mechanic of a first-person point-of-view creates the dynamic of experience as it creates a more immersive environment. This point-of-view heightens the mysterious dynamic as the player explores the world. The game’s premise is a worn-out and seemingly abandoned territory surrounded by rusted, creaking metal and dirty sewages. All of the signs are misspelled in a mysterious, yet still legible way. There are lots of eerie noises and dark spaces. All of these aesthetic elements create a suspenseful dynamic, as if something was about to jump at the screen. As the player walks, a story begins to develop as you speak to the disoriented, unsettling, faceless characters, discover different resources (such as the flashlight, heavy ball, and motorcycle), and learn how to use such resources.
This game incorporated several types of fun: sensation (many of the game aesthetics visually and audibly catered toward the player’s senses; my personal favorite was the overwhelming sight and sound of flies that led to the corpse), fantasy (the world is completely separate from ours with the strange-looking characters and suspenseful environment), narrative (as the player begins to build the story by walking and discovering), challenge (there are several objectives such as finding a train ticket, obtaining secret items, and achieving the goals), and discovery (the innate aspect of an exploration game that allows players to slowly uncover the point of the game and why it’s fun!). I actually believe that the game achieved these types of fun very well using its choice of aesthetics and mechanics that allowed me to be immersed in the strange world while uncovering new elements that brought me closer and closer to the outcome of the game — successfully finding the ticket and boarding the train!
Given personal time constraints, I was glad that the game was on the shorter end. However, I was really surprised to see that the game ended after boarding the train. It felt slightly unfulfilling to see that my game statistics included a lot of missed secret items and achievements. Upon reflection, there were also many parts of the map that were left unexplored. Although the quick nature of this game would make me want to keep playing in order to uncover more of the story, I would have had a more fulfilling experience if more of the story was required to be uncovered in order to finish the game. I would suggest that there be an increase of required mechanics such as the necessity of talking to certain characters, visiting certain locations, or completing certain objectives.
