A Juggler’s Tale

In A Juggler’s Tale, players are literally immersed in a puppet theatre and experience what it is like to be the heroine of a pre-determined story. The exploration of this fate, combined with the protagonist’s hero’s journey – in which she ultimately frees herself from her strings and thus defies the world and the narrator – is compelling.

The gameplay is tailored to the story, and the mechanics are simple: jumping, running, throwing, and pushing/pulling to solve various puzzles; yet within the overall concept, they fit very well with the chosen setting and the game’s theme. The jury was particularly impressed by the parallel development between the protagonist and the players’ experience. Whilst one must initially follow the narrator’s instructions at the start of the game, one breaks free from this narrative framework alongside Abby, until finally the threads that repeatedly hold one back—both narratively and in terms of gameplay—are severed.

Die DCP-Jury 2019