used in such a way that the puzzles are never overly convoluted.Loomis one of the few
adventure games where, once a puzzle is completed, players never feel that the puzzle
was arbitrary or capricious.
Difficulty...................................
Once again, from the comments in the manual, one can infer thatLoomwas made from
the start to be an easy game to play. One definitely gets the sense that the game truly
wants players to succeed and hopes players will see the end of its lovely story. Tradi-
tionally, adventure games prided themselves on vexing players and making them play
the game again and again until, after much suffering, a reward was doled out.
The LucasArts games made a dramatic break from other adventure games by, for
the most part, preventing players from ever being killed or from ever getting stuck.
Many prior adventure games included countless ways to die, thereby punishing players
who had forgotten to save their game. Some adventure games would also allow players
to progress in the game even though they may have forgotten to do something funda-
mental earlier in the game. Then players would get to a location, not have the object
needed there, and have no way of going back to get it. In effect players were dead, since
they could not progress in the game, but this was a worse kind of death: it was death
masquerading as life, where players could still interact with the game-world but had no
chance of actually winning the game. The LucasArts games set a standard that many
subsequent adventure games have emulated: do not be unfair to players.
If the LucasArts games in general tried to eliminate player frustration,Loomwent
one step further in making the game as player-friendly as possible. Some cries were
made by players thatLoomwas too easy. Indeed, the adventure game enthusiasts who
had been hardened on the adventure games that came beforeLoomfound it very easy to
finish. They were used to dying around every corner and spending hours bashing their
heads against nearly incomprehensible puzzles. Indeed, many adventure gamers were
accustomed to not being able to finish the games at all, at least not without buying a hint
book. But the problem with making games that only appealed to the veteran enthusi-
asts was that it made it hard for any new players to start playing adventure games. If
players were not already experienced with these twisted and convoluted exercises in
masochism, there was a good chance an adventure game would frustrate players so
much that they would feel no desire to try another one.
Story.....................................
With the game mechanics focused in order to emphasize the game’s storytelling com-
ponent, the entire game would be for naught if the story Moriarty wished to tell was not
of the highest quality. Fortunately, it is. The story of Bobbin Threadbare, the chosen
“Loom-Child” whose task is to restore the fabric of reality, is one of simple beauty and
great poignancy. On his seventeenth birthday, Bobbin is summoned before the elders,
only to watch in amazement as they are transformed into swans. Dame Hetchel, the
weaver who has been like a mother to Bobbin, explains to him the dire situation: the
young weaver must discover what is slowly destroying the Loom and save it before it is
too late. Thus Bobbin’s adventure begins, with his trips to the various guilds of the land
Chapter 12: Game Analysis:Loom 233