Game Review: Tell Me Your Story

By J,D,

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC

Tell Me Your Story is a new cozy puzzle game released by Red Deer games. It tells the story of Amelia, who along with her dog Peanut, goes to visit her grandmother Rose. Rose has been on plenty of adventures over the course of her long life, and her house is filled with mementos. By digging through these mementos, Amelia bonds with her grandmother and learns of just a few of her past adventures.

Sorting through all these mementos and memories takes the forms of puzzles. Some are fairly easy like matching objects with silhouettes. Some are more difficult, but still understandable like one that plays like the boardgame Master Mind. And finally, two I found so frustratingly obtuse, that I began to wonder if this was the kind of game for me.

None of the puzzles have any form of guidance so it’s up to the player to intuit the rules and/or solution. For most of the puzzles it’s pretty easy, but for whatever reason on those two, I just could not get what the developers wanted me to do and that makes me feel more frustrated than cozy. Thankfully the game does have a hint system, but it seems players are only allowed three hints per playthrough and I had already used mine up by the time I got to the most frustrating puzzle.

If there’s one thing that stands out about this game, it’s the art. They definitely convey the cozy feel of the game along with the music, and together they tell the story of the game without a word being spoken. However, there is some text to give context to where Rose’s adventures took place. For example, her second adventure story is about her trip to the Yunnan region of China which makes it a bit weird when the dish made afterwards is Japanese onigiri. I’m not sure if this was something I missed like “Rose went to Japan after her trip through China” or is simply an oversight by the developers. It gives the story an appropriate picture book vibe like one that might be read as a bedtime story. Like a bedtime story, this game is over nearly as quickly. Even after my hard time with some of the puzzles, it only took me about 2 hours to finish the game.

Makeup design is my passion.

Finally, all those years of screaming at kids on "Legends of the Hidden Temple" pays off!

Overall, if you’re a fan of the kind of cozy puzzle game, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with your time playing Tell Me Your Story.  he art and sound make the game as cozy as a summer trip to a beloved grandmother’s house should feel even if like those fleeting summer days of youth, it is sometimes frustrating and over before you even know it.

Check Out Tell Me Your Story on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1415570/Tell_Me_Your_Story/

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Overall Rating: B+

Pros:
+ Art and sound convey the cozy feel
+ Most puzzles are easy to figure out

+/- Short at around 2 hours

Cons:
- One or two frustrating puzzles

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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