➤ Sleeping beauty in the tablet 🎮

Once upon a time, it should be said, an excellent idea to stage a graphic adventure point and click for mobile devices and PC. Little Briar Rose was born in 2014, during the Indie Game Maker Contest of that year, and from there it has developed further becoming a real complete title, finally arrived on the App Store and Google Play and about to arrive also on PC , with launch scheduled for early December.

There is an independent Spanish team behind this little gem of design, namely Elf Games Works, which has managed to bring to fruition that particular "artsy" game vision that had emerged during the Contest and had already attracted so much attention to the epoch. The most characteristic aspect of Little Briar Rose is evident at first glance: the graphics are strongly inspired by the Gothic stained glass technique, so the drawings are composed of a set of colored and juxtaposed geometric planes, separated from each other by dark lines that would reproduce the metal frame that was used in the structure of the windows so decorated, inside the churches of the time . The line here appears more precise and sinuous, obviously not having the problem of adapting fragments of physical materials to the figurative needs, and in many respects, also given the fairy-tale and dreamy theme, it makes us think more of the subsequent reinterpretation of the glass technique that emerged between Art Nouveau and Liberty, but this does not change the evocative force with which the game presents itself in the midst of the numerous mobile titles, truly distinguishing itself as a unique title from a stylistic point of view. It is this artistic vision that particularly elevates the whole product, because for the rest its structure falls rather precisely in the canons of graphic adventure, while history and puzzle design, while not reaching heights of absolute excellence, are at excellent levels. .

Little Briar Rose makes us live a colored glass fairytale with an interchangeable protagonist

There was often a prince

The story is the classic one of Sleeping Beauty, re-proposed in the premises in a rather faithful way to tradition, but the adventures of the prince who will find himself trying to save her are decidedly different from those reported in the original fairy tale. The protagonist must try to free the enchanted forest from the magical brambles that make it impossible to cross, helping the local populations with their problems between gnomes, newts and fairies. By talking to the various characters, collecting objects and using them in the best possible way, it is possible to solve puzzles and gradually clear the passage to the castle where the coveted princess lies. If all this may seem very classic it is because in fact it wants to be, being a real tribute to the classic fairy tales of Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, but it cannot be said that Little Briar Rose does not demonstrate a certain personality even in adapting to the standard form of the fable.

The dialogues with the characters in some cases are strongly ironic and enliven the reading of the texts, while the diversity of the puzzles in some cases is remarkable, with the possibility of dedicating oneself to real mini-games or puzzles that have little to do with the normal course of action. The design of the puzzles is not particularly elaborate as it happens in classic graphic adventures, with the solution that is often rather guided, but a very interesting feature of this game is that in some cases it allows you to make mistakes and suffer the consequences. Within this typical adventure mechanic, in fact, Little Briar Rose inserts what could be called a roguelike feature, or the possibility of losing the protagonist due to bad choices and having him replaced with another. It is not simply a question of finding a game over by bumping into some dead end as it happens in the Sierra tradition, to say: in this game it is possible to solve some puzzles in the wrong way, for having left out elements or used the wrong objects, with disastrous consequences. for the prince. This is then replaced by another protagonist who inherits all the objects of his predecessor and continues the story trying to do better, in a sort of preservation of the "actantial" role of the prince regardless of the character himself who controls himself, a decidedly original solution that he also seems to make fun of some basic rules of the fairy tale.

Comment

Tested version iPad 1.0 Digital Delivery App Store, Google Play Price 2,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

8.3

Readers

Your vote

The aesthetic aspect of Little Briar Rose is probably the most striking element, and it is a great way to give a particular character to a production that in many respects appears canonical, but there are other reasons why this should be considered. Italian indie fatigue. The reinterpretation, sometimes humorous and in some cases almost absurd, of the classic fairytale world, in addition to the excellent idea of the "roguelike" element that allows you to explore negative paths, unhinging a traditional feature of the graphic adventure, help to make this a particular game. The construction of the puzzles is often not too complex and in some cases we rely more on the actual puzzle rather than on the layered interactions between objects, scenery and characters, but the charm of the setting and its quirks makes Little Briar Rose a title to try.