The state of commercial video games is one of extreme contradictions. 2023 has seen the release of some wonderful games (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Street Fighter 6, Pikmin 4, Cocoon, just to name a few). At the same time, the jobs of those who make video games are increasingly precarious. Thankfully some astute observers have gone as far as declaring that 2023 hasn’t been a good year for games and that the exploitation in the industry provides a glimpse into the future of labor. The sheer number of layoffs this year is disheartening and depressing. At the same time, our world is burning. Since 2020 global events – the seriousness of the problems affecting and afflicting us collectively as humans – leave a sense of uneasiness when engaging in the escapism that games provide. Should we even be having fun?
The frivolity of spending money on and spending time playing games made by companies that disregard their employees when one could be doing anything else can lead one to experience feelings of guilt and shame. One should not feel too bad; though, it’s good to have some sense of self-awareness.
In a recent attempt at escapism, I watched the November 14, 2023 Nintendo Indie World Showcase in hopes of finding a game or two to play in an attempt to seek some sort of escape from the current news cycle. To my surprise, there were a few games that grabbed my attention. One in particular, Mi’pu’mi Games’ Howl stood out to me as a potentially engaging turn-based experience with an art style reminiscent of the films from the Irish studio Cartoon Saloon. I downloaded the demo on the Nintendo Switch and played it to get a few minutes of leisure. To my surprise what I got was much more.
In Howl you play as The Prophet who is attempting to save the world from a plague that transforms people into dangerous feral beasts. The plague spreads through the sound of howls uttered by these same beasts. The Prophet is immune to the howl due to being deaf. She sets out on her journey in an attempt to rid the world of the plague and recover even a faint hint of what has been lost.
Howl is a turn-based game with some light customization options. The challenge that the game provides comes from dealing with the beasts and managing different tasks through the game’s levels. The game is not preoccupied with wasting the players’ time with overlong tutorials or dry and pretentious exposition. The world of Howl is realized through invocation. Its watercolor storybook pastiche and short voiceovers invoke a world in ruin and desperately in need of saving. I was enamored with the game just after a few seconds of playing it. Its world is presented as if it is being conjured on parchment paper, a visual presentation inspired by illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages and watercolor illustrations that Mi’pu’mi calls “living ink.”
During my time with Howl, I unwounded and reconstituted my thoughts. Focusing is made easy due to Howl’s brisk gameplay loop and its aforementioned aesthetics. Its blend of turn-based action selection and sequence programming is dictated by the player choosing what will be done ahead of time. In this way Howl differs from Into the Breach, an obvious influence on the game’s turn-based grid gameplay. Though, both Howl and Into the Breach are more akin to a puzzle game than something like Final Fantasy Tactics. I was surprised by this aspect of Howl’s gameplay as I was under the impression from the game’s trailer that it would be an RPG-lite. Nevertheless, there is an upgrade system that gives the player more options with the way that they choose to tackle the various challenges.
I initially set out to only play Howl’s demo. I ended up enjoying my time with the demo so much that I purchased the game and completed its 60 levels in a few short sittings. For in that short time, I escaped into Howl’s world and mechanisms. I found a state of repose even though the narrative was quite grim. The line between vice and non-problematic fun. Howl is a good game that offers meaty puzzles that will test your grit and ability to predict actions ahead of time.
I have become acutely aware that as a player what I want from games is not the same as what I wanted in the past. Gone are the days when I yearned to play a massive RPG (I only make an exception for Dragon Quest). I can’t stomach the time required for these ventures. Howl with its succinct and rewarding playtime is in the ballpark of what I’m looking for now.
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Escapism only properly provides relief when it’s married with engagement with the wider world. It’s up to the player who plays to not forget why they seek to escape into games as a necessary means of coping with life’s difficulties. The problems of the world will remain unless we make the effort to engage in collective action. When not engaged in these actions or spending time with friends and family, it’s good to take a few minutes here and there to unwind. Getting out of your head isn’t just something that we can do—it’s a mantra for the 21st century. The voices coming from the talking heads on the news, the images of destruction, violence, injustice, drought, and political upheaval come at us with the rapid furry of an artillery barrage. Let’s not forget that even soldiers played card games in the trenches.
*All images capture by the author.
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