Thralled
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''Thralled'' is a
platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...
puzzle video game Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, sequence solving, spatial recognition, and word completion. H ...
about an 18th-century runaway slave and her baby escaping the Portuguese slave trade. The game began as a senior project in the
USC Interactive Media & Games Division The University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts's Interactive Media & Games Division first accepted M.F.A. students in 2002. The division currently offers both undergraduate (B.A.) and graduate (M.F.A.) programs in interactive medi ...
and later became an
Ouya The Ouya ( ), stylized as OUYA, is an Android-based microconsole developed by Ouya Inc. Julie Uhrman founded the project in 2012, bringing in designer Yves Béhar to collaborate on its design and Muffi Ghadiali as VP of Product Management to p ...
exclusive after being discovered by
Kellee Santiago Kellee Santiago is a Venezuelan American video game designer and producer. She is the co-founder and former president of thatgamecompany. Santiago was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and raised in Richmond, Virginia, where Santiago played video ga ...
.


Gameplay

''Thralled'' is a side-scrolling platform and puzzle game where the player-character is a runaway slave mother escaping the Portuguese slave trade with her baby. The runaway slave, Isaura, escapes from a sugarcane plantation in 18th-century Brazil to find her missing child. She travels through Congo jungles and "colonial New World", and confronts the pains of losing her child and own past. While pursuing freedom and in fear of being caught and returned, she completes puzzles that include moving carts and cutting rope-bridges while temporarily relinquishing the baby. When the baby is placed down to move objects and cross chasms, a dark apparition version of the main character appears and approaches to take the baby. Settings include the plantation, a slave ship, and a castle that stores slaves for trade. The game has no dialogue, so Isaura expresses herself through movement. The game is played through a sole action button which either comforts the baby or interacts with the environment.


Development

''Thralled'' debuted in mid 2013. It started as a student project by creative director Miguel Oliveira and his peers at the University of Southern California Interactive Media & Games Division— Oliveira's senior thesis. He and animator Tiffanie Mang continued the project after their graduation and planned an
iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
release. When Ouya
developer relations Developer Relations, also known as DevRel, is an umbrella term covering the strategies and tactics for building and nurturing a community of mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and developers (e.g., software developers) as the pr ...
head
Kellee Santiago Kellee Santiago is a Venezuelan American video game designer and producer. She is the co-founder and former president of thatgamecompany. Santiago was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and raised in Richmond, Virginia, where Santiago played video ga ...
saw the game, she approached the developers about a deal: funding in exchange for exclusivity. They agreed, and the agreement funded the new development company. The game was shown at the March 2014 Game Developers Conference's Ouya booth and in the IndieCade section at
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. Early feedback said that the game was too difficult, which hurt the level of "tension" upon trying again. The mother and child element was chosen to "universalize" the horrors of slavery—that the latter could be made easier to understand through the former. The conceit was also a way to not focus on the violence of the era, which Oliveira said he could not accurately or comfortably depict. ''Thralled'' is also partially to humanize the tens of millions in
modern slavery Contemporary slavery, also sometimes known as modern slavery or neo-slavery, refers to institutional slavery that continues to occur in present-day society. Estimates of the number of enslaved people today range from around 38 million to 46 mil ...
worldwide. Oliveira has said that he thought the video game medium was young and should be pushed further, as well as that the interactive medium has endless possibilities for self-expression of "intimacy", for broaching hard topics, and for empathizing with victims. He felt that most games focus on "primitive", animal feelings—"aggressiveness and competitiveness"—and was interested in empathetic and humanizing games that focus on "love and caring". The idea of the shadow figure that pursues the unaccompanied baby descends from a Congolese idea of the dead's world as parallel and reverse to ours, as viewable through reflections in bodies of water and mirrors. The developers also integrated their research on period Congolese and Brazilian culture into the game. It was expected for release in 2016. The developers previously had no plans to release on other platforms and had not said whether the game is a timed exclusive, though ''Polygon'' reported that it was one. This changed in 2015 when a PC, Linux, and Mac version was confirmed.


Reception

Pre-release reception praised the game's artwork and concept. ''
Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...
'' Colin Campbell called the game "emotionally challenging" when citing the baby's cries and Isaura's conspicuous fears. He noted that its gameplay and Ouya exclusivity were likely weak spots. The "chilling experience" made ''Kotaku'' Evan Narcisse cry. He said the game made him consider the lengths to which he would go for his own daughter's betterment. Director of antislavery organization Walk Free Debra Rosen praised the game for its role in raising awareness about modern slavery.


References


External links

{{Portal bar, Video games, border=yes Indie games MacOS games Ouya games Platformers Puzzle video games Video games affiliated with the USC Interactive Media & Games Division Video games about children Video games about slavery Video games developed in the United States Video games featuring female protagonists Video games set in Brazil Video games set in the 18th century Windows games