It is common for someone reading a book to feel themselves get lost in the words of the pages. The development team DO MY BEST has taken this phrase quite literally with their latest game The Bookwalker. While the trailer above shows off some of what can be expected, the free demo they released on Steam during Steam Next Fest under tinyBuild's collection really gives the experience of what they are creating.
Gameplay
Starting off in a first-person view environment as an apparently very tall man, you get your first look around of where you will be diving into the written world from. You will also find aspects here such as a crafting table, a bed, and the cases that are delivered to start off each level. Once you set the case up and interact with the book, the real adventure begins.
Majority of this game takes place in the pages of a book where you take on the role of the bookwalker. Here it gives you a top-down view that resembles an escape room game where you can interact with different parts of the environment to progress forward. During this segment of the game, you will need to venture around, explore rooms, look for items, and interact with various aspects of the level.
During your progress through the level, you will come across some aspects that need tools that you won't be able to find in the written world. To obtain these items, you will have to back out of the book and back into the first-person environment. Here you can use the items you found as the bookwalker on the crafting table and make items to use in the written world, like crowbars.
After you craft what you need and get back into the written world, your progress will only be halted by one more aspect. That aspect is the dangers lurking within that you will have to fight off. Combat is completely turn-based and you will have a limited set of attacks to work with. You'll have a health bar and an ink bar during these fights. Enemies take off your health with their attacks and it costs you ink in order to do your attacks. Both health and ink can be recovered by consuming specific items, all of which can be found while exploring the map.
Expectations
There is definitely a great premise here, but it was kind of hard to follow the story. It seems like the person in the real world that we play in first-person is supposed to be a writer, but it feels like that means something else in this world. Plus, there is the oddly threatening client that is basically forcing us to do these jobs with the books. It was kind of hard to follow in the demo and I hope to see some clarity in the full game. There is a possibility that they are aiming for some late-game details to be revealed that bring the story together as well.
The setup for the written world that the bookwalker explores was strange and full of surprises in the demo. I am looking forward to seeing a lot of interestingly different ideas being portrayed through this game as we explore various worlds and scenarios. This experience has me wanting to be surprised more and more, so hopefully, they don't falter on doing that.
As for the combat, I would say that there are some aspects left to be desired. It felt like an odd mix of thought out and quickly thrown together. I like the enemies and the premise for why they are there, but the combat sequence itself is rather dull. From the three attack options it had, it always felt like there was one good attack and two bad attack choices, so I was just spamming the one good attack. Hopefully, this improves before release.
Conclusion
The Bookwalker is surprisingly entertaining and has a unique concept behind it! I am looking forward to seeing what the full experience will bring and how the story will unfold. They have done a great job at shrouding this game with a lot of mystery to it. Even though we have a vague understanding of what we are doing, we don't know why nor have a proper explanation for how either. It is certainly a demo worth trying out, to say the least.
