Stacking

Stacking (Double Fine) Available for download from Steam.com for $14.99

Plot Summary

The game follows the Blackmore family in a Victorian/Industrial Revolution inspired world peopled by Russian Matryoshka dolls. You control the littlest (both in age and in size) Blackmore Charlie.  After Charlie's family disappears, his siblings all look for work.  It quickly becomes apparent that his family is working as slaves, so Charlie sets out to free them.  From there the game proceeds as a puzzle game with a unique twist.  In order to solve the various puzzles, Charlie must jump into larger Matryoshka dolls in order to control them.  Each doll has unique abilities, and these abilities must be combined to solve the various puzzles.  Worlds include a train station, a steamship, and a zeppelin among others.

Over Charlie's shoulder.  The world of the game is experienced in this third person over the shoulder view.

Inside of a slightly larger doll: the special talent here is rolling about on the floor.  Not sure if that actually comes in handy for solving any of the puzzles.

Critical Evaluation

This game (like many of Double Fine's) could probably get by on concept alone.  It's quite inventive.  It's also quite satisfying to sneak up behind a character and hop inside them with an appealing clinking sound.  I had fun simply seeing what everyone's special skills were, and on later levels could just spend time staring at all the dolls (particularly eye catching are the Matryoshka birds).  Fortunately the game is more than looks.  The puzzles require creative thinking on the part of the gamer.  And there is a certain amount of replay value in the game as well, because each puzzle has three solutions.  The story is engaging, and the game has the typical Double Fine use of humor.  A note about play control: I found the game much easier to play on a Playstation than on my laptop.  Perhaps if your computer has a mouse, you could easily control the camera, but using a touch panel on my Mac to do it was annoying.  I had no trouble when I played it on the console though. 

Reader’s Annotation

Charlie's family have been forced into servitude and the only way to save them is to control everyone around you, who -- by the way -- are Russian stacking dolls.

Information about the author

From the company's webpage: 

Double Fine Productions is an award-winning, independent game development studio founded in 2000 by games industry veteran Tim Schafer. Located in San Francisco’s South of Market district, Double Fine is committed to making high-quality games with an emphasis on originality, story, characters, and fun.  

In 2005, Double Fine released the critically-acclaimed Psychonauts, which won several awards including “Best Action / Adventure Game” from Official XBOX Magazine and “Game of the Year” from Eurogamer. G4TV and X-PLAY recently declared Psychonauts to be the #6 XBOX game of all time.  [That's solid glass. You think they give plastic to THE BEST?] 

At the 2006 Game Developers Conference, Double Fine itself was awarded the title of “Best New Studio” by their fellow developers.  

In 2009, Double Fine released the Heavy Metal Masterwork Brütal Legend, starring Spike VGA winner Jack Black and featuring the music and voice of the greatest names in the world of metal. Brütal Legend was the recipient of AIAS awards for both "Best Strategy/Simulation Game" and "Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack."  

After the release of Brütal Legend, Double Fine began simultaneous development on several smaller games. The first of these, the Halloween-themed RPG Costume Quest, was released in October of 2010 and was named Best Downloadable Game of the Year by the Spike TV VGAs as well as PSN Game of the Year by Playstation: The Official Magazine. It is available for download on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC (Steam).  

Soon after that came Stacking, an adventure game set in a world of living Russian nesting dolls. Stacking was included in IGN's round-up of the Top 25 PSN games. It is available for download on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC (Steam).  

In June 2011, Double Fine shipped the incredibly manly 3rd-person tower defense shooter Iron Brigade, (back then it was called Trenched) which scored a 9/10 review from Official Xbox Magazine. It is available for download on Xbox 360 and PC (Steam).  

Double Fine has also released multiple titles using Kinect motion-sensing technology on Xbox 360. Released in October 2011, Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster is set in a living storybook full of monster friends to meet and play with. It stars Elmo, Cookie Monster, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, and a whole cast of new, furry friends.  

The studio's next Kinect game was Double Fine Happy Action Theater, which solves those annoying life problems like not being able to shoot magic from your fingertips and not having enough lava in your living room. A sequel is being developed and will be released soon!  

In March 2012, Double Fine completed a successful Kickstarter campaign that set a record for the highest-earning video game project on Kickstarter. The studio is now developing the game that will directly result from that Kickstarter, with the team at 2 Player Productions filming the entire process for all to see! If you missed out on the Kickstarter, you can still become a slacker backer and get ongoing access to documentary episodes and development updates as they are released. (Double Fine, 2013)

Genre

Video Game

Curriculum Ties

None to speak of.  The game's focus is solving puzzles, so it requires some analytical thinking skills, but it doesn't have a clear application to specific classes.

Booktalking Ideas

1. The game's basic conceit -- playing as stacking dolls -- may be appealing.
2. The Victorian/Steam Age world of the game may also have broad appeal.
3. While the main character is a boy, the game is not as obviously gendered as many AAA console games, so a description of the puzzles and the world may be appealing to all teens.

Reading Level/Interest Age

5th grade and up.

Challenge Issues

There is cartoonish humor (one doll's special skill is to belch).  The concept of child and slave labor is broached.  It's a video game and to be made available would have to be purchased and downloaded onto a library computer; some parents may not feel that this is appropriate use of library resources.

I would openly greet any patron who presented a challenge to the work, giving them ample time to detail their complaint.  I would listen attentively.  To respond to these challenges I would have some reviews of the work on hand.   I would be prepared to explain that as a public institution libraries "cannot limit access on the basis of age or other characteristics" (ALA, 1999).  I would have copies of the library's collection policy on hand.  I would be prepared to politely discuss that parents can control what their children are exposed to by coming to the library with them and examining books they check out.  If the Teen Advisory Group had written reviews of the work I'd have them handy.  While it may be of little comfort to certain parents, I would also be prepared to discuss my staunch support of intellectual freedom and abhorrence of censorship.  As a last resort, I would be sure to keep copies or a reconsideration form on hand.

Why did you include this book in the titles you selected?

I thought that the Victorian world and the concept of stacking dolls might have some appeal for teenagers.

References

American Library Association. (1999). Strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips 


Double Fine. (2013). What is Double Fine? Retrieved from http://www.doublefine.com/about/