NOVEMBER 2019 • TECH ADVISOR 123GAMING SPECIALrelease patches, but they still comprise a significant
portion of the experience.
The writing makes up for it though. Inkle already
demonstrated its prowess with 80 Days and Sorcery!,
but Heaven’s Vault is its most ambitious work of
interactive fiction yet, a sprawling archaeological sim
of sorts, comprised of dozens (maybe hundreds) of
different story branches that still manage to coalesce
into an engaging sci-fi story. And how well you
understand that story also depends on how deep you
delve into its translation side, with a ‘lost’ language
for the player to slowly decipher as they explore the
Nebula – for the first, fifth, or tenth time.
A linguistics-based puzzle game won’t be to
everyone’s taste, but it’s very much to my taste, and
I’ve rarely felt smarter than when I finally deciphered
the rules to Heaven’s Vault’s glyphs.NOVEMBER 2019 • TECH ADVISOR 123GAMING SPECIALrelease patches, but they still comprise a significant
portion of the experience.
The writing makes up for it though. Inkle already
demonstrated its prowess with 80 Days and Sorcery!,
but Heaven’s Vault is its most ambitious work of
interactive fiction yet, a sprawling archaeological sim
of sorts, comprised of dozens (maybe hundreds) of
different story branches that still manage to coalesce
into an engaging sci-fi story. And how well you
understand that story also depends on how deep you
delve into its translation side, with a ‘lost’ language
for the player to slowly decipher as they explore the
Nebula – for the first, fifth, or tenth time.
A linguistics-based puzzle game won’t be to
everyone’staste,butit’sverymuchtomytaste,and
I’verarely felt smarter than when I finally deciphered
the rules to Heaven’s Vault’s glyphs.