“Moment to Midnight” by Taxiderby, Ben Driscoll & Aaron Cherof.
“A promise. A prophecy. And a lost, little stranger.”
This will be the last article on game-curator.com for the year 2019. What could be more fitting to feature a short, beautiful adventure game called “Moment to Midnight”? It was originally planned as an entry for the Ludum Dare 45, but instead of finishing it inside of the time span, the developers decided to finish it in their own pace.
Keep in mind that the theme for the forty-fifth edition of the Ludum Dare was “Start with nothing”, as it explains a part of the game’s concept. Lyst is the proganist of “Moment to Midnight” and she awakes in the middle of nowhere. She cannot do anything at all: She cannot not move around, she cannot see where she is, she cannot speak one word and she cannot even hear a tune. It is all black, but suddenly a stranger offers her the gift of listening. She can finally listen to their words, though she is still not able to walk. Only thanks to the second gift of the stranger – the gift of proceeding – she can move again. By having a chat with the now occurring townfolks, Lyst will get one ability after another back.
This lack of abilities is the guideline for her journey, as it structures where Lyst is able to go to and with who and what she can interact. By solving little puzzles and explore the environment, she progresses further. She will hear about a prophecy that the time is halted; not only in the town, but in the whole world. Sure, the moments pass by, but time itself does not. Everything is in a state of stillness. A giant winged beast must be called upon the clocktower, so that time can flow again.
“Moment to Midnight” is a mystical experience, and maybe can be seen as a request to all of us to step back for some minutes, to reflect on our deeds in the past before we move on. An adventure may await us, the uncertainity of the future can be scary, but also promising. With all the knowledge we have gathered, we will be able to thrive for something even greater. We can be the beast, kind-hearted and beautiful in our own way. What better game can you imagine to farewell the old year and to welcome the new one? [PLAY]
