As a gamer in my 40s, I don’t always have time to juggle multiple massive 80-hour RPGs, and so shorter experiences are becoming more appealing. Take an indie voice, providing a unique perspective, around a specific gameplay mechanic – I’m usually a happy chappy. This is exactly where Many Nights A Whisper pitches itself. A movie-length gaming experience around a very specific theme. I have to say, I was hooked.
You play as a teenager, training for 10 years to perform a ritual for your village. On a specific night, you’ll be asked to fire an arrow into a chalice across the sea. Complete the ritual with your single shot, and you’ll grant your village all the wishes they’ve been confessing to you night after night at the confessional wall. Fail, and their wishes will never come true. The game flips between the two scenarios. In the daytime practice, using your slingshot made of the hair cut from the villagers whose wishes you’ve granted, to fire the arrows into challices, unlocking achievements as you go. At night, you’ll read the wishes from various villagers and decide if you want to grant them or not by cutting their braided hair before they recite their wish and dreamer’s poem to you.
The beauty of this is twofold. Every time you grant a wish, you are potentially changing free will, nature, and everyone’s lives. It might make some people’s lives better, but is that the right thing to do? If you grant their wishes, that’s more pressure on your shoulders. Now, the shot has more meaning, and I found myself starting to spend more time practicing in the daytime. As the wishes get bigger and heavier, your slingshot gets more powerful, and you can shoot further. That makes the pitching and power of your shot more difficult to pull off. It is such a simple idea, but it is fantastically executed. What seems like a very simple gameplay loop (and it is) becomes engrossing and almost meditative at times. As the final night approaches, you’ll find yourself feeling the pressure… or will you actually feel freedom coming close as the weight of expectation gets removed?
To up the ante, when you reach the ritual, your mentor, who asks questions of your choices and feelings each day, makes a great fourth wall-breaking comment about save scumming and warns you: your save will be erased as soon as you start the ritual. This transfers the character’s pressure to you as the player, because whatever the outcome of your shot, you can’t quickly undo it. You’ll need to replay the 60-90 minute experience again to take another shot. It is a bold but powerful design choice that I fully applaud. It makes the game so much more impactful and meaningful.
Impactful is how I’d describe Many Nights A Whisper. I had many thoughts about its themes and topics, and those were supported with simple controls and some great gameplay design. At the cost of less than £2.50, this is a budget experience that indie and story rich gamers shouldn’t miss.
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