Message in a bottle

Message in a bottle uses the theme of floating in an original way. Playing as the bottle different and in gameplay the slight delay on the controls makes it feel realistic while to overwhelming to emphasize the narration. The sound is well balanced between the convincing sound effects and the voice-over.

The rhythm of the narration varies and develops a compelling story but gives an impression of staying on the same tone despite changes in the contents of what is said. The link between story and gameplay is strong, interesting use of narrative structure. Most notably the reading of the letter while playing during the letter’s journey to the recipient makes the player wonder during the whole course of the game where he’ll end up.

The subtitles provided are necessary but are sometimes hidden by the bright background.

Sound design could have been pushed even further with sound effects for the bottle itself or oceanic wildlife.

Some feedbacks are lacking such as when the bottle is filling with water. This can be quite punishing to the player so it needs to be more explicit. The bottle doesn’t give the impression of moving much, except at the beginning and the end of the game. This can be attributed by the lack of background elements and lightning effects.

The variance in the 3D assets used is inconsistent, character models and their environments don’t match.

The game controls are only described on the page description for the game, it would have been preferable to have an indicator in game as well.

Suggestions to develop the experience would be to enhance the sound design further by using music or more quiet time with more empassing sound effects like in atmospheric game such as Limbo.