This game was a surprisingly timely lesson for me about making art. I regularly get hooked on my own ideas but disappoint myself with the execution. I don't iterate enough, I don't push away from my first thought, I don't kill my darlings.

I love the concept of this game. And while the first few missions were clumsy at best and boring at worst, there was just enough that I thought could become compelling that I didn't want to give up. They have a novel (no pun intended) hook with their main character, and the internal and external worlds he inhabits. But we waste time on mechanics that feel bad and interactions that do nothing but tell you where to click next. You only get to the fireworks factory halfway through the second act, and the game ushers you back out before you can buy anything. I don't really care, or care to guess, what decisions led to that. I don't know why they didn't push further or cut chaff. It was just sad that a spark of inventiveness and expression existed, but wasn't fed.

I finished the game and wondered, what did they want to say other than "we like this idea"? What about autonomy and oppression? What about the power of creation? Not that all art has to be Mariana-Trench-deep along every axis that one can judge art - but I want the art I consume to say something more than "I just think it's neat." I want to say more than that with the art I make.