A Tale of Paper

A Tale of Paper is a side-scroll arcade game. It was developed by the Spanish independent studio Open House Games, for which it is the debut game. Platformówka was awarded the prize during the fifth edition of PlayStation Talents Awards in 2020.

Plot

A Tale of Paper presents the story of a paper boy named Line, who has magically come to life and wants to fulfil his creator's dream. Achieving the goal, however, is not easy - the hero has to face up to the numerous obstacles that await him in the great world. The story of loss and the search for hope is told solely through the environment. The game lacks any dialogue.

Mechanics

A Tale of Paper is a classic side-scroller, in which we navigate through locations filled with all kinds of traps, ruthless Roombas and environmental puzzles. Apart from the arcade levels and those that require logical thinking, there were also some calmer moments in which the game is closer to the walking simulators.

The game offers quite original mechanics, which makes the gameplay more varied.The fragile hero of the game can turn his form into a frog, a paper plane or a bird, which allows him to overcome more difficult obstacles and get to seemingly inaccessible places. However, the transformation brings with it restrictions. As a frog, for example, you can jump higher, but on the other hand, this form makes walking and running impossible. The use of origami mechanics (transforming the paper character) is an integral part of A Tale of Paper.

Technical aspects

The graphic design of A Tale of Paper is fully three-dimensional and presents a decent level, although it differs in quality from the top 2.5D platformers. The game is distinguished by its paper hero and the dark and bizarre atmosphere similar to that of Inside and Little Nightmares.