The Artesian Well
A downloadable game
In downtown Olympia, just off Jefferson between 4th and 5th, an artesian well is ever flowing. They say that if you drink of its waters, your soul will be tethered here. Though you may leave Olympia for days or months or years, the story goes, something will always bring you back.
In this game you will make a small map of your own Olympia. You will fill it with memories and friends. You will decide if you really want to come back. This town meant something to you. Maybe it still does.
Written for Folklore Jam 2020.
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The Artesian Well is a simple game about returning to your hometown and answering the prompts about the town and why you left. There are no random mechanics or branching paths but a simple set of questions, but does require you to make a simple map of your locations.
I played as someone who left to go to college in another town and has returned after many years to visit a friend. They had a melancholy experience remembering all the events in their past and eventually decided not to return to Olympia. You can read my playthrough HERE
Thanks so much for sharing! It means a lot to me
lol I saw that image and recognized the well immediately!
The Artesian Well is a single-player game played by both drawing and writing about being drawn back to the mythology of your hometown.
It's 4 pages, with a solid photo cover and readable layout---although there is some weirdness there. Half of the document is in bold and the other half isn't, and there's a few places where there should be a line between paragraphs but there isn't.
Mechanically, you play be answering detailed, relatively personal questions about your fictional town and the fictional well at the heart of it---from which a single drink will tether your soul to the place for all eternity.
The writing in Artesian Well is very strong, and its questions and prompts are rolled out in a way that draws you deeper into the story.
There isn't a ton of concrete resolution at the end---you don't get an option to brick over the well---but the game does a *very* good job of making you think and reflect.
Overall, if you like introspective games that examine your relationship with the place where you grew up, you should check this out. It's very effective.