Children of Silentown is a dark adventure game that tells the story of Lucy, a young girl growing up in a village deep into a forest inhabited by monsters. People disappearing is nothing uncommon in the village, but this time, Lucy is old enough to investigate on her own. Or so she thinks.
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Complete playthough with 100% of achievements unlocked. Children of Silentown is a decent but unexceptional point-and-click 'adventure', with an enjoyably spooky theme. The puzzles are for the most part fairly logical, though with occasional frustrating 'pixel-hints' required across a few locations. A song mechanic used to unlock different interactions with characters is interesting, if not as well-developed as it could have been. Overall, the game is worth a play for fans of the genre, but it isn't going to be memorable beyond that.
I got this in the humble choice bundle and kinda wish that it had been one of the choice games I inevitably forget to ever play. By the end of this game I was only holding out so that when I said this game was bad no one could ever try to tell me that actually the ending makes it good (which it doesn't.) Most of the puzzles are pretty divorced from the story. There are a lot of times that the game wants a inventory puzzle solved in a specific way and doesn't do a great job conveying their logic. The color pallet of the game fails to integrate into the magic singing system; there are a lot plants that are the color of one of the songs that aren't effected by the songs. The fairytaleish plot was pretty bad. I feel like it doesn't think about the setting enough to work on a literal level and doesn't think about theme enough to work on a conceptual level. Wasted way too much of my time on this game.
This game is currently in the Humble Choice for February 2024, this is part of my coverage of the bundle. If you are interested in the game and it's before March 5th, 2024, consider picking up the game as part of the current monthly bundle.
A unique art style… just unique.
Children of Silentown is a game where players take on the role of Lucy who lives in a little village, where strange things are going on. It sounds like people are disappearing and Lucy is having nightmares but it’s not clear why. The gameplay is done in a point-and-click adventure style where Lucy has to explore the world and solve a variety of tasks from helping her mother cook to getting groceries.
But that’s kind of a problem, in the first hour, I feel like nothing happened and while there’s a big mystery, the gameplay lacks anything interesting. This is a simple point-and-click puzzle game but even there, the solutions are rarely unique or deep, if anything they force players to click on everything and hope they find something interactive. There’s a strange song mechanic but nothing gripped me in that first hour, and the art style is… I mean you can see it, this is strange, right?
Pick this up if you want a point-and-click adventure game. People do seem to like the story here, but I’m not sure why, and honestly, I don’t feel like returning. The graphics don’t help the game, though I’ve heard people praise them, I have no clue what they’re talking about. Ultimately this just feels weak for the point-and-click genre and doesn’t have a story that I feel like I have to discover, so I won’t.
If you enjoyed this review or want to know what I think of other games in the bundle, check out the full review on or subscribe to my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/hVGME-pBU7g
A unique art style… just unique.
Children of Silentown is a game where players take on the role of Lucy who lives in a little village, where strange things are going on. It sounds like people are disappearing and Lucy is having nightmares but it’s not clear why. The gameplay is done in a point-and-click adventure style where Lucy has to explore the world and solve a variety of tasks from helping her mother cook to getting groceries.
But that’s kind of a problem, in the first hour, I feel like nothing happened and while there’s a big mystery, the gameplay lacks anything interesting. This is a simple point-and-click puzzle game but even there, the solutions are rarely unique or deep, if anything they force players to click on everything and hope they find something interactive. There’s a strange song mechanic but nothing gripped me in that first hour, and the art style is… I mean you can see it, this is strange, right?
Pick this up if you want a point-and-click adventure game. People do seem to like the story here, but I’m not sure why, and honestly, I don’t feel like returning. The graphics don’t help the game, though I’ve heard people praise them, I have no clue what they’re talking about. Ultimately this just feels weak for the point-and-click genre and doesn’t have a story that I feel like I have to discover, so I won’t.
If you enjoyed this review or want to know what I think of other games in the bundle, check out the full review on or subscribe to my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/hVGME-pBU7g
Reminding me of a fairytale, Children of Silentown was a cute point and click puzzle game featuring an isolated town and their fear of the surrounding forest. Taking control of a rebellious child named Lucy, the story was a journey of curiosity and secrets. Progressing often required finding objects and combining them, or utilising the unique mechanic that was Lucy's musical talent to aid her in overcoming obstacles, even the ability to see the memories of villagers. These songs prompted minigame puzzles which I feel were overused and, if I'm honest, I really came to dislike one sort of puzzle in particular.
Still, it had much to enjoy with its artstyle, music and quirky characters. It also had some spookiness but nothing overtly scary.
Still, it had much to enjoy with its artstyle, music and quirky characters. It also had some spookiness but nothing overtly scary.
Design was kinda cool but I felt like it was lacking in story and the puzzles are so very repetitive
In an isolated country village, the locals fear the monsters in the forest. Whenever a family member vanishes into the night, they hang posters up not to seek out the missing, but as a public shaming ritual for those who were punished by the beasts. Some adults even make gossip, delighting in how a disappeared loved one "deserved" to vanish for breaking the rules.
The wider metaphors of this small town oppression kind of gets lost to me when the only actual established rule is "don't sing." I'm not expecting something particularly in-depth and it is clearly a child-orientated game, but its just unclear how this town generally functions day to day. I was sort of expecting just generic Tim Burton-esque gothic town, but its apparently big enough that a baker choosing to search for his son instead of working comes down to "we better find a new baker" from locals. But the game's more interested in going through how a child is pressured into following the status quo. Just as Lucy seems to be launching a solid investigation into the forest's mysteries, one conversation with her father (convincingly) puts her back under the town's thumb. Being a rebellious child is a lot harder than it looks. Its just easier for Lucy to fall back in line and try to forget everything she's learned. Its a little frustrating for the game's pacing, but it felt real. Lucy wants answers, sure. But sometimes a kid is willing to listen to their parents say "ignore that stressful thing and live a happy life instead."
Mechanically, the game's not all that impressive either. Its a point and click, no need to reinvent the wheel. But everything operates on a frustrating auto-save system. No rolling back saves, no chance to return to any collectibles you might have missed. You have one chance. And if you want all four endings, you gotta replay the game four times.
I'm not gonna get into too much spoiler content with the endings but seeing endings marked as "Neutral, Good, Bad, and Best" on youtube is just stark compared to my own interpretations. Sure, I guess most people would consider reuniting a family the good ending, but on the other hand? Fuck this town. Fucking bail. Choosing to escape into the forest should not be the bad ending, that's the smart ending. They can dress up another ending as "oh you worked within the system to change the town's mind on the forest" all they want, I still think its a lost cause. If it sucks, hit da bricks.
Advice I kind of wish I took myself while playing this, but that's not fair. Its a pleasant Neutral game. A respectable cleaning-up-a-backlog-weekend game. Can't go wrong with that.
The wider metaphors of this small town oppression kind of gets lost to me when the only actual established rule is "don't sing." I'm not expecting something particularly in-depth and it is clearly a child-orientated game, but its just unclear how this town generally functions day to day. I was sort of expecting just generic Tim Burton-esque gothic town, but its apparently big enough that a baker choosing to search for his son instead of working comes down to "we better find a new baker" from locals. But the game's more interested in going through how a child is pressured into following the status quo. Just as Lucy seems to be launching a solid investigation into the forest's mysteries, one conversation with her father (convincingly) puts her back under the town's thumb. Being a rebellious child is a lot harder than it looks. Its just easier for Lucy to fall back in line and try to forget everything she's learned. Its a little frustrating for the game's pacing, but it felt real. Lucy wants answers, sure. But sometimes a kid is willing to listen to their parents say "ignore that stressful thing and live a happy life instead."
Mechanically, the game's not all that impressive either. Its a point and click, no need to reinvent the wheel. But everything operates on a frustrating auto-save system. No rolling back saves, no chance to return to any collectibles you might have missed. You have one chance. And if you want all four endings, you gotta replay the game four times.
I'm not gonna get into too much spoiler content with the endings but seeing endings marked as "Neutral, Good, Bad, and Best" on youtube is just stark compared to my own interpretations. Sure, I guess most people would consider reuniting a family the good ending, but on the other hand? Fuck this town. Fucking bail. Choosing to escape into the forest should not be the bad ending, that's the smart ending. They can dress up another ending as "oh you worked within the system to change the town's mind on the forest" all they want, I still think its a lost cause. If it sucks, hit da bricks.
Advice I kind of wish I took myself while playing this, but that's not fair. Its a pleasant Neutral game. A respectable cleaning-up-a-backlog-weekend game. Can't go wrong with that.