The Emotional Micro-Narrative of Re-Bot
With the prominence of lengthy AAA RPG’s and cinematic action-adventure games, it’s sometimes nice to enjoy a condensed story with a more straightforward narrative. Even in a short amount of time, some games manage to tell a comprehensive story without the glitz and glamour of the big-budget title but with just as much heart. With its short playtime and emotionally dense story, this principle applies directly to Digital Mosaic Games’ game: Re-Bot.
Re-Bot is a point-and-click adventure game with a simple yet engaging narrative. In only a few words, the game immediately sets up the main conflict and protagonist’s goals. It follows a robot who is scouring the galaxy in search of robot friends to rescue from peril. This journey takes the robot to several unique locations and allows it to fulfill its goal of finding new friends and setting out into the unknown. Again, the game is very brief and can be completed in about five minutes, but the journey itself feels surprisingly dense. The planets are vibrant and teeming with life, and the characters we encounter along the way stick with you well after the game is over thanks to both their designs and unique personalities. With a simple pixel art style and charming robot designs, Re-Bot is both a joy to interact with and pleasant to simply look at.
Re-Bot’s point-and-click mechanics are easy to pick up, and the objective is always very clear, even if it’s not directly spelled out for the player. The cursor flashes red over interactable objects, allowing us to know what items are clickable and which ones are not. There are a few puzzles embedded into the point-and-click elements that are also quite rewarding.
Like many point-and-click titles, Re-Bot strives in the story department. The dialogue is concise and often even contains little bits of dry humor. All of the characters are robots who speak in an abbreviated way except for a single, and quite eloquent, talking frog. Every interaction feels very purposeful, which is why the game’s short play-time is effective. As this title was created for the Ludum Dare 56 game jam, the developer was working with both limited resources and a short amount of time. While creating a game under those circumstances is an impressive feat in itself, making all of the elements work into a memorable and rewarding game is truly something special.
Like Digital Mosaic’s earlier title Artisan, Re-Bot ends with a satisfying spin on what one would traditionally expect from the point-and-click genre. It’s a bit of a plot twist, but it’s one that effectively makes players re-evaluate the entire game as a result. Not every short gaming experience is created equally, and there are certainly some that are easy to forget about moments after closing the game. However, with Re-Bot, there’s a sort of charm and effortlessness to its execution that makes it more difficult to forget. It’s a micro-narrative that delivers on its premise and begs for multiple playthroughs, which makes its name, Re-Bot, feel all the more appropriate.