Have You Played... Cradle

Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.

Have you played Cradle [official site]? I previewed Cradle but only just got around to playing the full game. So far I'm only part of the way through so I won't be checking the comments for fear of spoilers but it's already been so rewarding.

It's a puzzle game set on the Mongolian steppe in a yurt. You've lost your memory but start to pick through the literature and paraphernalia of the yurt and the surrounding countryside, trying to work out who you were and why you're here, out on the steppe with a cyborg woman who is also a flower vase for company.

I feel like it's a game that won't be for everyone and I'm anticipating that a lot of people bounced off it almost immediately. Some of the puzzles are awkward or finicky or solutions might be easily missed. It's also more rewarding the more reading you're willing to do and that will entirely depend on your frame of mind. I think it's hit me at exactly the right moment. It's wonky and flawed but easnest and beautiful and I love it so far.