Wander a wee village in Beeswing's free browser version
Scotch 'em up
Jack King-Spooner's wonderful handcrafted Beeswing [official site] now has a free browser-based version, in addition to the plain old paid downloadable one. Beeswing explores the small Scottish village where Jack grew up, chatting with people, seeing the sights, wandering the countryside, and tugging at your heartstrings. Swing on by Itch or Game Jolt to play in your browser for free.
RPS's former senior Scottish correspondent (and my current senior flatmate) Cara Ellison wrote about Beeswing back when it was first released in 2014, back when she herself had been roaming so far very from Scotland.
"It is Final Fantasy on a small scale, in the spirit of Yumei Nikki, hand-illustrated and studded with the kind of Scottish duality people don't talk about any more. In Beeswing I feel acquainted with death, but not in a morbid way. In Beeswing I feel like I am home in summers of Loch Lomond watching bees suckle pink flowers and dance between the heads of heather. I wanted to call my mother at a point, in fact, a thing I forget to do but Beeswing tattooed it into my consciousness. Beeswing sent me home."
For me, Beeswing sent me away, and I was very happy for it. We've since moved to Scotland and I have been glad to see, meet, and feel small bits of Beeswing's world as I roam, ramble, and get stranded in remote villages - though never as an insider.
Nathan Grayson had a great chat about Beeswing with Jack, including the remarkable phrase "trying to turn my grandmother's death into a money shot."
If you dig Beeswing, you can still buy the downloadable version for £3.
