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Slow and straightforward., October 1, 2023The action in Headlights consists of looking at everything to find items that open new locations.
It relies on an artificial sense of urgency, continually telling players to hurry, but the urgency isn't supported by any gameplay mechanics. Mostly, these reminders drew my attention to the lag between typing a command and receiving a response.
There’s no real “search” command with Perplexity — an object’s notable features are revealed when you look at it. The default state of objects involves less description, which led to an infuriating encounter with “a bush, a bush, and a tree.” (You couldn’t look directly at either bush, because the parser didn’t understand which bush you wanted to check, but “look at bushes” eventually revealed that each bush had its own identifying adjective.)
Overall, Headlights felt more focused than the last Perplexity game I encountered. Most of the experience here involved applying objects logically to move to the next location. I particularly enjoyed the puzzle that involved a surge of adrenaline, because it did an unusually good job of using a narrative to justify the following sequence of events.
Headlights worked smoothly when the parser and I stuck to clear language and simple concepts, which raises interesting questions about the future of Perplexity as a game design tool. Creations like Lost Pig, Vain Empires, and Zozzled are entertaining because they play with unconventional language and abstract concepts, and it may be difficult for Perplexity to enjoy similar success.