Green Pond Town

The locals lost their faces, and I lost my functioning car shortly after

This was my first encounter with Cotton Game, and I’m very glad curiosity won. You play a detective investigating a strange picture of four faceless individuals, only to arrive in a place where your car quits immediately and a lonely cottage seems way too eager to open its doors. Why are the people faceless? What does this decrepit cottage hide? The whole game lasts about 50 minutes, but it really keeps the atmosphere odd from start to finish.

The vibe sits comfortably between cozy and eerie, especially if you enjoyed the tone of Birth or HER TREES : THE PUZZLE HOUSE. Puzzles are simple and approachable for the most part, with the exception of one smiley-related enigma that suddenly spikes the difficulty and may send you visiting the community guide. I really liked how the detective’s thoughts appear directly in the environment, making exploration feel alive rather than menu-driven. And the use of the camera object? Unexpected, a little weird, and perfectly on theme.

It's not a perfect 10/10 though. If Steam doesn’t default to English, the game launches in simplified Chinese and you’ll need to switch it manually (third menu option), which makes you miss a couple of opening lines. It's nothing too important, but you can check the community guide mentionned above to catch them in English. There’s no hint system nor achievements and the auto-translation mentions Green Water Town instead of Green Pond Town, which can break the flow for more attentive players. The adventure is short, though the price matches this.

But despite its compact runtime, Green Pond Town is a great addition to your library if you enjoy creepy, but cozy accessible puzzzles. There isn't much story, though you will get an ending (so no weird hypothetical left to your imagination). 100% worth the time and price tag in my eyes. Give it a thought if this seems like your jam!

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No idea what that was, but I can confidently say that neither the Point&Click parts, nor the puzzle parts nor the horror were perceivable to me.

I just feel like I lost an hour of my life on something I'll have forgotten within the next ten minutes.

If you are a fan of short point-and-click puzzlers, you usually can't go wrong with a Cotton Game. Green Pond Town is no exception. It is a short and somewhat macabre mystery to be solved by exploring the environment and solving puzzles to open new areas and gather inventory. It is a bit different than most Cotton titles in that it leans heavily on mechanical puzzles and relies less on environmental clues and pattern matching.

There are no voice-overs and all text appears on screen. In this game, informative text is splashed across the walls in a large font which can be a bit distracting.

The premise is familiar. You receive a photo which leads you to a strange house that you explore to uncover its secrets. Green Pond Town is easier and less sprawling than Cotton's Isoland titles (which are the best!). It should not take you more than a couple of hours to complete.

Steam achievements are not supported and there are no in-game trophies to be earned. There is also no hint system. If you get truly stuck, there is a video guide posted in the Steam forum that can be quite helpful. Your progress is saved on exit so you can quit playing at any time.

If you are looking for a fairly simple point-and-click mystery and enjoy the Cotton Game format, then I would recommend Green Pond Town.

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