Gaming: Quern – Undying Thoughts

I have been an addict of Myst like games since the very beginning. Solving mind boggling riddles by logical means (instead of weapons) was always my preferred gaming. And it seems 2016 had a great share of games fitting to my taste: Obduction, The Eyes of Ara, The Witness, and last but not least Quern – Undying Thoughts. Due to work, research, online courses, diapers, and some real life (these are also the excuses for my long silence on this blog) it took me ages to complete this games, but with a bit of help I finally manged it.

Those who have ever played any game from the Myst series (Myst, Riven etc) know what you get: Several worlds/areas to explore, finding clues, solving riddles, lots of reading, leading to a finish where you have to decide between two fates.

The game leads you through a variety of surrounding, from open air with gorgeous views and lovely crafted details, caves with dark corners and hidden chambers, even diving excursions are included, till you reach the final showdown at a huge underground facility. The graphics of the game are extremely beautifully crafted which makes you want to book a trip to this island.

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I have to admit that due to the long time over which I had to play the game, as well as my missing Sherlock Holmes traits, some of the riddles were really hard for me. Sometimes the clues are so insidiously hidden or inconspicuously placed that one just easily misses them. But that makes the game a real challenge.

For me Quern manages a great balance between a riddle game and an exploration game. I don’t like games where you just have to go around and click each and every nook to make sure you find all pieces (typical example, the room series), but on the other hand games that only consists of solving riddles without searching for them are half the fun. Myst, Riven, and Quern, too, all of them strike a delicate balance between these two poles and deliver an absolute astonishing experience.

Fully recommended, 100/100 for me!