How do you give weight to a single action in a videogame; a medium that exists around the concept of game-overs and do-overs? The recent Rogue-like boom is one example of how to raise the stakes, but Many Nights a Whisper takes this concept and distils it further.
You are placed in the shoes of the Dreamer – an apprentice being mentored for a ritual that takes place every decade in which you will have a single attempt to slingshot a flame into a large brazier, miles away. Secondary to this, on the week leading up to the ritual you will meet nightly with the townsfolk and choose to either grant or deny their wishes. These wishes range from the practical (“I wish cigarettes were cheap, and good for you”) to the ethically/morally dubious (“I wish my dog would live forever so I never have to watch her die”). On the night of the ritual, if you successfully sink the shot then all the approved dreams come true. If you miss, then those dreams will never have the chance to be realized.
Over the course of about 90 minutes, the gameplay loop cycles between practicing with your slingshot during the day and yaying or naying wishes at night. Through familiarity you learn how tension on the slingshot affects it arc and distance, and by hitting dozens of ceremonial bowls around your training ground you can refine your shots, building up confidence for the final challenge. As you grant more wishes your slingshot increases in power, inching you closer to loosing a shot with enough distance to hit the final torch.
Tomb Raider it ain’t; but the anxiety and palpitations I experienced as I lined up that final shot upon which all depended had a gravity that very few games can match. Dreamer-willing, that gravity will be on your side when it counts.