Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger and Terribly Cursed Emerald: Whirlwind is a long-titled narrative game from German indie studio Crows Crows Crows. As you'd expect from a studio famous for its narrative experiments, players embark on a bizarre adventure and raid to steal the emerald. At least that was probably the plan. However, the plan does not always work out.
(Dr Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist, 2015, William Pugh, CrowsCrowsCrows)
In a sense, you can call it "Stanley Parablesk". No player robbery has actually occurred because another player is actually playing the game at the time of release. As a result, the player is launched backwards to witness the background of the game. It's like an intertwined behind-the-scenes theater full of storyboards, prop boxes, and duct tape. From this new location, players jump in to assist their desperate voice through the intercom, helping active players join the game when the rest of the staff are on strike due to staff shortages. As they move from room to room, the player will follow the director's advice to elicit a variety of events and reactions to help the player progress through the story, or at least that's the idea. Unfortunately for our poor director, players don't necessarily have to perform every action correctly, or even perform every quest; whatever can be done will be done. Like with the Stanley Parable, CrowsCrowsCrows uses the narrative setting and total player freedom as the main loop of the game, which includes a desire to just do whatever it takes and see what can happen. You can reorient the game from where the player moves to the time they sit vaguely in a particular area. In reality, the story bends in a straight line when the player starts and then diverges. This wouldn't have been so effective without the work of the intercom director's wonderful story that Simon Amstell spoke to. Through constant interjections, he makes the player feel that his actions are actively changing the world, driving the constant need to see what can happen next, turn.
(Screenshots taken from Steam Store)
Anyone who has played Stanley Parable, Dr. Langeskov and the very long titles are cheerfully intimate, breathing fresh air, thanks to their fascinating assumptions and gameplay settings. It's usually digitized and a little nods to the side of the game that is numbered on the flyer. Player ratings are simply ridiculous and can help connect the whims of the entire project. This first playthrough can't be reproduced no matter how hard you try, so it's hard not to ruin a lot. What I can say is that if you love a disappointing narrative adventure while enhancing your ability to feel like you can do anything, this is a free experience that takes 15-20 minutes.