Steam Gaming: Paradise Marsh

Posted on January 4, 2024 by Aywren

Game: Paradise Marsh
Time Played: 2.2 hours

Paradise Marsh was one of the short games that I got with the Jingle Jam bundle. While I only put a couple of hours into it, that was enough to complete the main bit of the game.

There were other “side quests” I could have done that would have extended the gameplay, but from what I gather, that’s only if you’re set on achievement hunting. I didn’t see the logic in it as the mini-games weren’t all that captivating (even fishing – couldn’t figure out how it worked, and the game didn’t tell me).

The Experience

This is short indie game made by one person, and it doesn’t do much to explain what you need to do to make your way through it. I instantly understood that the object was to capture critters in the marsh and document them – but it took a bit before I realized I needed to capture multiple of each creature so that I could rebuild a constellation of them in the night sky.

The game drops you into an environment where the stars have fallen and it’s your job to collect them and return them to the night sky through the creature catching mechanic (using a bug net). I’m not sure if the game areas are randomly generated, but there are different biomes that are seamlessly woven together. Certain creatures appear only in some areas or under certain time conditions (night or day).

You can also gather messages in a bottle which are meant to give a bit of foundational story, but I was able to find all of these long before I finished critter gathering.

My Thoughts

The game art style is cute, the areas are neat (though redundant) to explore, but some of the creatures were a pain to capture – especially multiple times. Some of them had gimmicks that you had to figure out, and there was a point where I nearly put the game down because I felt done with it.

However, I did press through to capture them all. The most interesting part of the game, in my opinion, is interacting with the stars that you’ve returned to the sky. Each creature’s constellation has a personality all its own, which only becomes apparent as you unlock and finish it.

Though the game page bills it as a “short narrative,” aside from the messages and the interaction with the constellations, there wasn’t a big story to it. I get that the game was loosely hinting at bigger concepts (such as life and death), but just as with the game mechanics, it didn’t spell a whole lot of it out. The concept was cute and chill, and I respect the effort that went into the game. I still wouldn’t recommend picking it up outside of a significant sale unless this is your kind of jam.

I say this as a fan of cozy-type games, which I do feel this constitutes as. It’s pretty cozy, there’s some exploration, but that felt like a mask covering something that was more of a checklist of things to do. Once it was done, it was done, and it was very short.

Cute, though. Just short. And the ending felt a little sad with the suggestion of death and moving on from death.

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