Some video games are experimental. They try new things, defy conventions and play with the player’s expectations. Certain games go so far that their status as games is left as a question. They seem to make no sense — sometimes not even to the developer. One such game is Let’s Go There And Wander Nowhere, developed and published by Polychroma Games.
Let’s Go There And Wander Nowhere wastes no time, dropping you straight into the non-action. There is no title screen or options menu, though the latter can be accessed while playing the game. Instead, you are presented with two choices: Bumping into the invisible wall you are facing, or turning the other way.
There lies a burning car and not far from it, a young woman can be found. Despite the dire situation — the burning vehicle could explode at any moment — she is not interested in accepting your help and apparently just wants to be left alone.
Let’s Go There And Wander Nowhere allows you to wander around in first-person mode using standard WASD controls, but the game’s core gameplay element is its dialogue system. While speaking to the woman, you can try to persuade her to accept your help or follow her pleas and abandon her.
Her dialogue is confusing. There are no obvious right or wrong choices. The answers you get sound confused more often than not. This gives the dialogue a certain authenticity, as it truly feels like words someone in distress would use, but also makes it frustrating to go through.
Contrary to what one could initially suspect, Let’s Go There And Wander Nowhere is not a walking simulator, or at least not one in its purest form. Pick the wrong choices in your conversations and you will be sent back to the beginning of the game instead of progressing to the next area.
Whether or not this qualifies as losing the game is debatable, as failure to advance could also be interpreted as reaching one of multiple endings. Should you fail to advance, do not worry. Let’s Go There And Wander Nowhere can be completed in about twenty minutes — faster if you do not read the dialogue a second time — so trying to progress further does not require you to invest too much time.
Whether or not Let’s Go There And Wander Nowhere is worth your time is debatable. Depending on one’s interpretation, it takes on themes such as loneliness, depression and suicide — or is just full of pretentious babbling. Based on the game’s official description, the developers themselves do not seem to be entirely sure about this.
Visually, Let’s Go There And Wander Nowhere is quite appealing. It foregoes realism in favour of a style that almost resembles a painting, dying objects in single colours more often than it uses textures. The sound is adequate, but not remarkable.
Is Let’s Go There And Wander Nowhere worth your time? Possibly. Its goal may be vague and its writing a mess, but it is available for free and short enough. If you like experimental games, give Let’s Go There And Wander Nowhere a chance. If that is not the case, allow it to confirm your stance.
Let’s Go There And Wander Nowhere is available now on PC, Mac and Linux
