A Space For The Unbound Preview - An Imaginative Beginning (NYC Play 2020)

A Space For The Unbound opens softy with a young writer narrating her story to a co-writer. The ending is explained immediately and we return to reality. To help write the epilogue the 2 set out but not before retrieving a critical idea necessary for the story's completion. With the protagonist diving into the realms of the supernatural and real-life problems to help make this story a reality.

When playing through A Space For The Unbound's it reminded me heavily of Dontnod's Life is Strange series. At first, things seem normal but quickly this normal reality turns into something else. As the co-writer for this story, you're asked by the young girl to retrieve this "Magic Wand" from her home. You have access to her Red Book that seems normal at the beginning until you read it for the first time.

You're taken to this new dimension which is actually the inside of someone's mind. At first, I played this off as just a clever mechanic to showcase how the protagonist is empathizing with his partner but that changes when he heads towards her home. 

This opportunity provides a short look at the world. It's a beautiful pixeled rendition of 90s Indonesia with a lush array of colors and animated characters with a great sense of motion to the background. The protagonist has a real sense of momentum to his movements, with a slight delay before running. Interacting with people of the town and objects of interest opens up a small menu where you can choose specific items or actions. When heading to the writer's home you see the mother is worried about her daughter skipping school and locking herself in her home, unaware that she snuck out.

It's here that the developers showcase the puzzle aspect of the game. You have to get inside the home without being noticed by the father and her helpful cat gives him an idea, the roof. And yes, you can pet the cat in this game.

I noticed a ladder from the previous area but when I went to retrieve it the owner was annoyed I was trying to take it. I need the ladder and he makes note that he's exhausted. I remembered I got a musical mix-tape from a worker who said it's calming but at the same time, a flower appeared over his head. When this happened I was able to open the Red Book to enter the writer's mind so it must work here.

The protagonist enters the mind of this person and you see what's going on in his immediate thoughts. He's worn and a tree in the background cleverly displays all the steps needed before the puzzle can be solved. Using the tape, smashing the clock, closing the blinds, and turning off the lights got the worker to sleep. Returning to the real world you see your actions in his mind worked and now he's asleep, showing what just happened actually happened and you altered the mind of this person using this book.

You grab the ladder and head into the room to grab the wand, here's where reality starts to set in. The father bangs violently on the door, verbally insulting his daughter. It's an unpleasant scene but paints the reality of the writer's home life.

Quickly the protagonist darts back home during a rainstorm. All while the musical score complements the entire situation. When reaching his partner she's in danger of drowning and attempts to save her using the items needed to complete the story since he cannot swim but is unsuccessful. I won't spoil what happens but the following scene leaves it up to player's interpretation of what happens and you'll have to play the rest of the game to find out.

The most major criticization I had was the ESC option. Instead of exiting a choice when interacting with an object simply using ESC you have to select a nothing option. It's nothing too many but option I would default to ESC to quickly move out of the menu only to be taken to the main menu.

A Space For The Unbound opens strong with a great presentation. With the exception of the protagonist, we're given enough information about the writer, her home life, and what this story means to her. Along with some possible clever potential puzzles for future encounters. You can download the demo here if you wish to try but overall A Space For The Unbound is looking to be a great indie hit among adventure fans.

Adam Siddiqui,
Managing Editor, NoobFeed
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