Garden of Oblivion | Indie Horror in a VN format.

"Garden of Oblivion is a short horror point and click style visual novel developed and published by Traumendes Madchen (Dreaming Girl). The game was originally published for Lundam Dare 30. It is available on Steam, Itch.io, and Android"

Born in the Late 90s I unfortunately missed the heyday of LucasArts Point and Click Adventures, (through I did manage to play the fantastic homage Thimbleweed Park). However I was around for the second wave of popularity when point and click games hit the Flash market. Publishers like PastelGames(Aurora, The Trader of Stories) and Jonochrome(The Riddle School Series) created puzzle based adventure games. Later entries such as a "small talk at the back of the beyond" and "Air Pressure" provided a more intimate philosophical experience. Garden of Oblivion falls into the later camp with hand drawn visuals, cute/macabre graphics, and subtle but philosophical tone that reminded me of the grimdark worlds of Alice is Dead or Rusty Lake's Cube Escape Series.

The main character Reven wakes up in a wonderland-esque world with talking animals, an open aired bedroom, and a spectacular garden with the sense that she's forgetting something but what is it. The only thing she's not allowed to do is go through the heavy iron door at the end of the garden. Which means thats the first thing she does. She wanders a field of soporific poppies ala L. Frank Baum and wakes up in the same bed in the same garden. This begins Reven's descent into horror as she tries to escape the confines of her gilded cage. The subtle shift in tone in the story was excellent through some may dislike the abstractness of the storyline. I'm used to the more open ended style of story in the genre so if your looking for a deep story of a woman recovering her lost memories you're going to be dissapointed but if you like short philosophical works on individuality and free will then this is the right game.

While the copy advertises the game as a point and click adventure I believe that GO can be more properly classified as a visual novel, (i.e the main distinction is amount of player agency). Unlike other P&C games which feature complex puzzle solving, (I'm looking at you Lucasarts), and inventory management GO uses this mechanics minimally often with only one item per cycle. The main gameplay is through the narrative through the game does incorporate a surprisingly enjoyable jigsaw puzzle minigame which added a nice level of interest to the gameplay.

The art style had a hand drawn illustration style which added a lot of indie charm to a market filled with cheap voxel renderings. Reven had a distinct character design that manage to imbue a lot of personality. The change in tone throughout the game was delivered mostly through the visuals which delivered a atmosphere of creepiness and horror. The jigsaw puzzles feature some disturbing original art which add a nice icing to the illustrated cake.

Garden of Oblivion is a short but satisfying piece of Indie Horror that reminds me a lot of the more philosophical visual novels that I've played in my youth and was a great introduction to Traumendes Madchen as a publisher. Perfect for those that enjoy and are looking for the more narrative side of the market.