Sketch Quest: Review, Unbiased

WARNING: The following is a highly positive review of a video game produced by my brother, Kramer Solinsky, and his group of gal pals at Vancouver Film School.

• Because he is my brother, I love him and support him.
• However, do not let this fool you into thinking that I am biased in favour of him. He is, after all, my little brother, which means that I spend as much time torturing and belittling him as I do torturing and belittling him.

• You should not get into your head that I am anything but honest in my report

(But, really, should it even matter?)

(*play now HERE at Kongregate.com)

The attraction of the game is obvious.

It’s the animation, it’s the somehow-addictive elevator music, and it’s the ability to “draw” your way through the game.

But, the real attraction to me was something different.

Yes, it’s beautiful to look at, even if it looks like something a grade 10 students would scribble while dreaming about his cougar-licious math teacher (again, it’s beautiful to look at).

But, the first thing that hit me while playing this game was jealousy. Jealousy that I didn’t think of it. Jealousy that I couldn’t think of it. Jealousy that, of all the people in my family who have been applying for the title of “genius,” it wasn’t me who won the seat.

Jealousy that I didn’t turn my libido-driven mid-morning textbook art into a video game with as much potential as this. My brother did. Or, his friends did… either way, a combination of him and them did.

It’s that pre-pubescent style that ultimately carries the game because, while we try to deny it, we really do judge books by their cover.

It’s not until we actually open the flap that we can concentrate on the content, but we have to open the flap first.

And, this flap looks good.

The title “Sketch Quest” will inevitably pull gamers who are looking for something light and fluffy, but they’ll stay because they’ll be surprised by it. They’ll be surprised that it’s much more than they thought it was, that this isn’t so much a Quest as it is an Addiction.

(Personally, I wanted them to call it ‘Scribbled’.)

They’ll stay because while everyone else is trying to create something along the lines of Fruit Ninja or Angry Birds, because while everyone else will spend/waste years of their life trying to (and failing to) conceive of a worthy successor to Perfect Dark or Halo, because while everyone else will want to change the world with a video game… this game is here.

This game is it.

This game is the reason why we play video games, the reason why we watch movies, and the reason why we listen to music.

Because, sometimes you just have to be able to put your feet back, sink into your seat, and enjoy something.

Sometimes, you need to go back to your high school notebook and the scribbles inside it, because maybe that’s when you were truly last happy… or when everything else was a little bit simpler, at least.

And, once you play this game, you’ll find there’s something much more there.

That’s the real surprise, after all.

That’s a real twist ending.

Bravo, brother. Bravo.

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• Review by Indie Games, HERE
• Review by JayisGames, HERE

Page52 and Team Steampipe’s Blog about the making of Sketch Quest, HERE