A narrative-driven puzzle adventure game with the butterfly effect at its core. Board the Babel, a mysterious cruise ship that takes you on a whimsical journey to the afterlife. Use a special pen to help fellow travelers fulfill their wishes by rewriting the past, changing how the future unfolds.
The core gameplay revolves around a unique "butterfly effect" mechanic. Players can travel back in time and subtly rewrite past events, triggering a ripple effect that changes the future. This allows them to solve puzzles and progress the story in creative ways. The game utilizes a point-and-click adventure style, where players explore the environment, interact with characters, and collect clues and items. However, the gameplay goes beyond traditional point-and-click by incorporating the time travel and rewriting abilities. Whenever players encounter a roadblock or need to change the course of events, they can travel back to a previous point in the timeline and adjust something - whether it's modifying an object, altering a character's actions, or triggering a new sequence of events. This "rewriting" of the past immediately alters the future, enabling players to overcome obstacles and unlock new paths forward.
The puzzles focus on gathering information, making deductions, and figuring out the key events that need to be changed. Players must pay close attention to details, talk to all the characters, and piece together the connections between different storylines. Many puzzles revolve around understanding the logic of the "butterfly effect" - how a small change in the past can dramatically impact the present. Players need to think carefully about the consequences of their actions and experiment with different rewriting attempts. The game provides a helpful notebook feature, allowing players to take notes, ask questions, and organize their thoughts. This assists with the more complex puzzle-solving, as players have to keep track of a lot of information and potential branching paths. Reviews highlight that the puzzles strike a good balance between being challenging and intuitive, with satisfying "aha" moments when solutions are uncovered.
The game's storytelling is nonlinear, with players experiencing different character perspectives and storylines that jump back and forth in time. As they rewrite the past, the narrative shifts and unfolds in new directions. This nonlinearity creates a dynamic, branching narrative that reacts to the player's choices. Reviews praised the rewarding sense of cause and effect generated by the butterfly effect. The notebook feature plays a crucial role in the nonlinear storytelling, helping players keep track of the various plot threads and make connections between events that may be separated in time.