As we fumble our way through action and strategy games on our touch-screen devices, itâs easy to lose track of the simple, sublime joys of touch. We get so caught up in rules and mechanics, learning unit strategies in Amoebattle or finagling bullet-time in Max Payne Mobile that we forget that the joy to be found in the simple act of touching the screen, of manipulating a game as if it were beneath our very fingers.
Windosill for the iPad constantly reminded me of how wonderfully tactile the iPad can be. Itâs a lovely, humorous, mysterious game, and it completely took me by surprise. In addition to the iPad, itâs available for PC via Steam (you can get it as part of the Humble Botanicula Debut bundle), but playing it with a touch-screen feels so good that itâd almost be a shame to play with a mouse. Itâs not on iPhone, as it probably wouldnât work on such a small screen.
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That car is what you must push from room to room; each room has a door in the wall that can only be unlocked by inserting a cubical key into a square lock above it. To get the key, well⊠you have to discover the roomâs secret, is the best way I can put it. The main character isnât really the carâthe main character is you, and the car is just the toy youâve chosen to take from room to room. The rest of the objects are what youâll have to manipulate to get where youâre going.
An example: in one room, you have a couple of different towers, and a stack of big blue cubes far too large to serve as a key for the locked door. You find you can push the stack of cubes over, which reveals a pool of water in the background. In the water is a globe, which you pick up with your finger and place on top of one of the towers. Once itâs on top of the tower, you can spin the globe, which causes the wind in the room to pick up.
The second building turns out to be a smokestack, and squeezing it creates a cloud⊠which you can then manipulate with the wind by spinning the globe⊠and tap the cloud to get it to rain cubes⊠one of which you can then have another building kick over to land on the ground before you use it to unlock the door and proceed.
Oh right, I forgot to mention, one of the buildings sprouts legs when you spin it.
Did I mention this game is mysterious and lovely? It is. Also, the next room will be something completely different. Maybe a huge box that grows interactive facial features depending on where you touch it. Maybe not.
Windosill a game that must be played to be understood, and explaining the various rooms to you would do both you and Windosill a disservice. Learning how the game works, it turns out, is the game itself.
Iâll leave it at thisâ Windosill isnât like anything Iâve played on the iPad before, and it proved to be a delightful, playful surprise. Give it a shot, and youâll be glad you did.
Windosill [App Store, $2.99]
