For the time-conscious consumer, storytelling in games can at times feel daunting, at best. Epic tales told through hundreds of hours worth of dialogue can be undeniably satisfying if done correctly, but in some cases, they can truly feel more sluggish than slogging through an unnecessarily wordy work of writing. A tale can be easily robbed of its momentum by the greedy hands of corporate fat cats, time itself, and bloat to the point of tedium. Not the tale of Haimrik, a unique puzzle and platforming adventure by indie developer Below The Game. Here, the team did well to use their words and created a title that benefits from the beautiful efficiency of combining the storytelling and gameplay in a delightful symbiosis.
Haimrik follows our titular schlub, a failed fantasy storybook author living in a storybook-type world, as he acquires a mysterious book that brings to reality whatever is written on its pages… in blood. Shenanigans ensue as our bumbling Knight in Burlap Tunic meddles around with the book, and causes events that lead to a full-on revolution in the kingdom. It is a fun story set up with interesting developments, as our guy Haimrik uses his newfound powers to do stuff like healing his wounds, getting free shoe leather, and befriending a lioness. But it is truly the package the story comes in that makes it so delightful and unique.
The tale is told through a 2D perspective with a sepia tone that matches the yellowing of an aged journal. The buildings and characters are cartoonish caricatures done in a nice hand-drawn ink style that is both minimal and well detailed when the time calls for each. This continues especially to the outrageous and over the top bloody cartoon violence that befalls Haimrik and various baddies alike, with faces slicing off and mashers turning folks into piles of mush with hairpieces. It is unique and looks good, and covering things like the minimal expressions and character movements with the narrative framing is clever. But the wordplay goes even beyond the aesthetics of this title.
The gameplay is in fact wordplay. The magic of the book that Haimrik has acquired allows him to write a scenario (every time in his own blood, may I remind you) on its pages, and then jump in and explore that short story he has created. These serve as the game’s main levels and are made up of floors between two towers, interconnected by stairs on either side. On the gaps between floors, under our dear scribe’s feet, are the words to the scenario he just wrote. These can involve castles with guards, dungeons with traps, and mines with rock piles blocking the way. You are then tasked to move through each area, trough creative word choice. Need a weapon, interact with the word “sword,” need to distract a monster, look for the sentence referring to our hero’s “guts” and grab a handful of viscera from the ether. It is a very interesting way to allow you to interact with the environment and can include many different ways to solve puzzles by thinking more abstractly, or do the exact opposite and trick you into brutally murdering yourself. It’s fun to experiment, satisfying to succeed cleverly, and not overly punishing, as you are immediately dropped back onto a fresh start barely moments after death or restart.
These puzzles are not the only way you’ll interact with your story as it’s unfolding. Each expository cut scene is actually more like a room you run through, words of the tale bellow you, and scenes of importance flashing on the walls behind. There are boss fights, chases with baddies on lioness-back, crossbow shooting, and more. The gameplay is varied enough to keep things fresh and constantly building, and the story is short enough to be easily busted out in under six hours. I will say there is definitely a difficulty spike towards the end, with correct word choices being more obtuse and enemies being tougher. It wasn’t too much to get through, but be aware the Big Bad is not ready to go down quietly.
If you’re looking for a short story with unique gameplay elements and efficiency in storytelling, words have power in Haimrik. It’s currently ridiculously cheap at $4.99 on the Microsoft store for their Platforming Paradise Sale and is also available on the PS4 and PC.