Modern Fables: Medogan (Chapter 1) review

Being a text-driven adventure, there’s very little that I can say about this as the theming is, for all intents and purposes, absent. There’s a few items of interest that you are able to view but this game largely exists within the written word. That said though, I found that a certain atmosphere wormed its way in as we played. The puzzling forces a slow familiarity with the eponymous town and I found that by the game’s conclusion, I had a vision of Medogan in my head. If you don’t care for copious amounts of reading, this one probably won’t be for you.

This is a free click and play web app that can be downloaded or played directly in a browser on a Windows or Mac computer. It’s the first part of what is currently three chapters. You get in your car and travel to a town you’ve not visited before. You enter a pub where you meet a local who hands you an incomplete map of the area. Your objective is to find information that helps you fill in the blanks. There’s a pretty detailed storyline full of Ye Olde English text, but the visuals are lacking. There’s some pictures and a little audio, but the game is mostly text based so you’ll need to use your imagination.

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These were actually a more engaging collection than first impressions would suggest. I guess for me was, in the absence of visuals, all the puzzles performed some world-building, whether it be navigating a map of the town or intuiting information about its residents. They weren’t puzzles for the sake of it, they served a purpose in building the narrative and felt extremely cohesive as a result.

Most of the game is spent traversing the town hall for clues. As well as solving the logic puzzles, you’ll also need to get your bearings in the maze-like hall. Pen and paper may help you here to visualise where you are. A couple of puzzles expand from the app, sending you to social media and your phone to help solve them, although the latter didn’t seem to help much. The logic all made sense but we made a slow start as we got our heads around the game and environment. If you get stuck, there’s a simple blog page with clues, in both cryptic and obvious form, for each puzzle.

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I can’t put a finger on why, but I genuinely enjoyed this game. At first, the text-heavy nature seemed like a budgetary decision but as we dug deeper, it seemed very appropriate for the game. With nothing fancy to hide behind, the craft of the game had to be solid and Modern Fables achieved this, producing a game that stands out amongst the ever-growing crowd of play at home games.

The counter to this though is that the text-heavy focus requires a bit of an adjustment at first, we kept expecting the game to open up which it obviously never did. It’s not a good thing or a bad thing, it’s just different. My personal view on it is, we’ve seen a lot of these games in the last few months and some of them are indistinguishable from each other. This game stands on its own and absolutely has a unique identity. So, if you’re craving something different, you can do no worse than give this an hour or so of your time.

The introduction was quite boring, constantly clicking and reading, but things improved once we reached the puzzles and worked out what we had to do. Your enjoyment of this game will depend on whether you are someone that prefers to read the book and use your imagination, or watch the movie and be excited by the visuals. This is the equivalent of the former so if you are like me and prefer the latter, it may not be for you. I’ve played other free puzzle web apps which I enjoyed a lot more than Medogan. We’re currently sharing a new one each Wednesday on our social media channels so check them out!

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It costs nothing to play Medogan but that doesn’t mean it should get a free pass! The unusual nature of it puts it a slight disadvantage, especially if you’ve played a few online games now and have a certain level of expectation regarding presentation. That said, it’s a game that I really did enjoy and would still recommend, especially considering the price of admission!

Modern Fables have generously provided Medogan for free, presumably as a way to advertise their real world escape rooms, which have recently reopened from the coronavirus lockdown. If you enjoy imagination-based world building, this is a great way to spend a wallet-friendly hour of your time. But if you want your eyes stimulated as well as your brain, you may find this a little dull and not the best use of your time. And that’s why this didn’t score 10/10, because time is money!

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