Seite - 199 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Band 03/01

Review: SAMOROST 3 | 199www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/1, 199–205 Christian Wessely Game Review Samorost 3 (Puzzle) Amanita Design, 2016 A review of Samorost 3 (the basic version can be downloaded from the Aman- ita site for €20) fits perfectly in an issue of the Journal for Religion, Film and Media that deals mainly with comics and comic movie adaptations because this game draws most of its fascination from comic-like characteristics. i will do my best to avoid spoilers whilst hiding my enthusiasm for this incredible token of creativity. Being into computer games since 1983 (on a C64 then, trying hard to endure more than three levels of Impossible Mission), i have encountered a good num- ber of concepts and ideas. in the past i saw a lot of bad ideas sold with over- whelming graphical power, as well as great ideas that suffered from a weak game concept. Over the last two years i have had little time to play, but then a friend showed me Samorost 3 on his Mac – the very next day, i bought the game, and i played it over the following weeks. the GAMe PLOt in the native Czech language of the developers, samorostly means something like ‘unspoilt’ or ‘genuine’, and, indeed, the player starts somewhere in an Ar- cadian landscape with blossoming trees, a flowery lawn, grazing rabbits and a sleeping dog (see fig. 1). All of a sudden, a horn drops from the starry heaven and startles the dog, which starts barking. its owner, a small white fig- ure, is awakened by the noise and comes out of the observatory-like tower he lives in. Closer Fig. 1: The player’s character in his home.