The House at the End of Rosewood Street is a game which has raised quite a few eyebrows with its players. It includes an interesting plot, it is stylistically well written, but it does not work as a game at all. I guess we agree this far?
Well, unless you have a very lose definition of what constitutes a 'game' and what is rather cumbersome work, I can fully agree with this. As with every work, something can come to fruition from it. However, the question to ask is, whether it is really worth it.
In May 2021, the winner of a small competition for self-created text adventures was voted. The PunyJam participants had the task of starting the game in a room called Broom Closet. The description of the room was also precisely specified. The rest of the game was left to the imagination and creativity of the author. This resulted in 8 different text adventures which were evaluated by a jury. The decision was very close. The difference between first place and second place was only a tenth of a point.
As an adult, it is really hard to re-immerse oneself into a child's mind and write such a character in a work of fiction. On the other hand, having a child write a child character isn't exactly a super realistic option, either. That is why it is so common to find so many insufferable kids who are really not kids, but "small adults" or "kids through the eyes of adults" in the movies, on TV etc.
The Impossible Bottle therefore takes a bit of a risk on its premise. Although seemingly safe, placing itself into the light-hearted comedy with fantasy elements genre, it is told through the eyes of a six-year-old girl. The Taylors' visit is imminent. Mom is busy working in her study. Dad is cooking dinner… but he's admittedly also late on setting up the table etc. So he recruits his daughter to help. Beginning with the simple request of removing her toys from the ground, subsequently, more and more tasks pile up.