Children of Silentown is a dark adventure game that tells the story of Lucy, a girl growing up in a village deep in a forest inhabited by monsters. Lucy believes the adults are hiding something from her and the other kids. This is a town where the adults have imposed a strict curfew, and it is common for people to go missing. It’s also where a lot of monsters abound in the nearby woods. When tragedy strikes close to home, Lucy is determined to find out what’s going on by solving a pile of puzzles.
Although a bit slow at times, Children of Silentown has a strong narrative that is sure to keep you interested. The little stories Lucy glimpses in the townspeople’s minds help push the story along, even if the pace could be more consistent.
As a point-and-click adventure, Children of Silentown offers plenty to keep you entertained for around 8-10 hours. The story and soundtrack are both excellent, and the clever puzzles help to keep you engrossed throughout.
It Can be Hard to Play Sometimes
It’s a shame that the story pacing is a little clunky, and inconsistencies can make the game harder to digest. But if you like a good mystery, then Children of Silentown is worth checking out for its clever puzzles and creepy atmosphere.
The story itself is well-written, and a lot of effort has gone into making the cast of characters interesting enough to keep you engaged throughout the game. The protagonist, Lucy, is particularly well-developed and offers a lot of depth.
There are plenty of spooky scenes to uncover and characters to meet as you explore the town and its dangerous surroundings. It also includes a few different scenarios to solve, some puzzles to complete, and even a few minigames.
As you explore the town and its surroundings, you’ll meet some quirky inhabitants and discover a series of clues that help Lucy on her journey to find out what’s haunting Silentown. You’ll need to take on a range of tasks, such as collecting notes and playing minigames to unravel the mystery.
Well-Developed Characters
Besides the usual point-and-click gameplay, Children of Silentown also offers an interesting twist that uses music to aid exploration and peer into other characters’ thoughts. This is done through song puzzles, which are an integral part of the story and allow players to learn a bit more about some of the other inhabitants in Silentown.
As a result, the underlying atmosphere is wonderfully eerie, and the hand-drawn visuals are simply gorgeous. The washed-out watercolor palette combined with the massive blank eyes of all the characters and the ghostly white pupils that pop in and out of their sockets really gives this game a dark, Edward Gorey-like quality.
The story itself is well-written, and a lot of effort has gone into making the cast of characters interesting enough to keep you engaged throughout the game. The protagonist, Lucy, is particularly well-developed and offers a lot of depth.
Perfectly Made Musical and Time-Management Puzzles
The game is a clever blend of point-and-click and time-management puzzles with a few more interesting ideas thrown in for good measure. A handful of items are used in unique ways, and a few can be combined in surprising quantities. The best part about the game is that it’s very easy to pick up and play, even for those who aren’t too enamored with the idea of click-based gaming.
The game also has a dazzling array of technological wizardry; one of the most impressive was the musical puzzles. Using a plethora of syllables and jingles, you can create various songs triggered by different items in the game’s world around you. In the process, you can unlock latent memories in fellow villagers and reveal hidden secrets that even a trained monkey would find difficult to decipher.
The graphics for Children of Silentown are beautifully drawn, and the color scheme really sets a spooky tone. The nightmare scenes are painted black and white, while the rest of the game is colored in muted colors.
