Posted on: July 13, 2020
Jalixx3
Games: 1325 Reviews: 34
Pop-up Book Astrology with Cool Music
This is a review of the Steam version. This game is loosely based on the life of Certified RealDoctor (TM) Simon Forman, who was an astrologer in the 1500s. Gameplay consists of hearing a little choir-sung song about a client's problems, listening to a vague description from them (fully voiced), and then selecting a fortune and seeing what happens. Your goal is to get letters of recommendation from satisfied clients (or just select the funniest option). I really liked this game. This was a fascinating time in history, and the game has lots of hints of what was going on then--grand ship exploration, Catholics vs Protestants, *cough* "science" *cough*. The music is madrigal-style with a little choir singing funny lyrics in a roughly 1500s style. Visually, the game looks like a pop-up book, and the effect is really well done. The conversations with clients have frequent dialogue choices, so it's not like a visual novel where you just have nothing to do but read. Only downside is the game is fairly linear; you might be able to replay it once to see other outcomes, but I think it would get tedious after that. I think you will like it if you have an interest in history and are in the mood for light comedy with curiosity-focused gameplay. People seeking challenges, strategy, etc. will be disappointed. Just a note: this game doesn't have fantasy elements, just a historical setting. By the way, the game designers worked with the Simon Forman Casebooks project at Cambridge University, and their site is linked from within the game. You can see actual notes from the doctor himself online (his penmanship is really bad, as is traditional), which are apparently the first documented examples of what went on in medicine in history!
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