IFComp has started. I decided to get into judging the games again this year. It’s eighty. Let’s start with the first. The address is 10pm or 10.00. It shows the evening preparation of a small formation called a lovely little family. The child, Bird, is 12 years old and does not speak but communicates with signs. The adult, Ty, tries to take care of her, educate her if she likes. I still have the dog, I forgot his name, but it doesn’t bother me much, it’s more of an mood element. We are with Bird, the child, we are communicating with signs, the child’s signs are represented by small icons, they need to be inserted into the squares. The most interesting benefit of the game, I think, is that since only the adult, Ty, speaks, the child only signals, we start associating with the icons during the game, meaning we are more free to deal with image associations about what the child has to say. Ty, the adult, speaks clearly, intelligibly, but mostly in sentences, communicating with sign language gives the game a very interesting perspective. The vocabulary, ie the symbol treasure, is not very abundant, it can give the opportunity to start free (abb) image associations in the game. I mean, that’s how it all affected me, maybe it will be different. Content warning: references to acts of violence and sexuality (i.e. between Ty and a woman), presentation of interesting parenting habits. Anyway, you don’t have to think of anything too brutal, it’s not so depressing compared to the topic, I’d say it’s more interesting.
Rating: 10 sign language out of 10
