The Path Image
  • Summary: The Path is a short horror game inspired by older versions of Little Red Ridinghood, set in modern day. The Path offers an atmospheric experience of exploration, discovery and introspection through a unique form of gameplay, designed to immerse you deeply into its dark themes. Every interaction in the game expresses an aspect of the narrative. The six protagonists each have their own age and personality and allow the player to live through the tale in different ways. Most of the story, however, relies on your active imagination. The Path is designed with accessibility in mind. There are no ticking clocks or monsters to defeat. No hard puzzles will ever halt your progress. Most activities in the game are entirely optional and voluntary. The player has all the freedom in the world to explore and experience. The Path is a Slow Game. Six sisters live in an apartment in the city. One by one their mother sends them on an errand to their grandmother, who is sick and bedridden. The teenagers are instructed to go to grandmother's house deep in the forest and, by all means, to stay on the path! Wolves are hiding in the woods, just waiting for little girls to stray. But young women are not exactly known for their obedience, are they? Will they be able to resist the tempations of the forest? Will they stay clear of danger? Can they prevent the ancient tale from being retold? [Tale of Tales] Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 20
  2. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. It will be years before a game made by the big budget software houses like Ubisoft or EA is brave enough to attempt anything remotely similar, but The Path shows promising signs that gaming is starting to grow up.
  2. This review does not tell you much about the game because if I started talking about it I would spoil the experience for you. Unlike all other reviews (at least so far) where you can talk about key features or experiences if I did that it would be wrong. What I can say is that The Path is an experience of exploration and emotion. You should enjoy the game in small doses and not rush your way through because it is a slow experience but a wildly artistic one.
  3. It's totally no fun. It's interesting, but there isn't a fun bone in its mopey body. But I've paid to go into modern art galleries. I've paid for really oddball, minimalist art films. I've gone to gigs where music is divorced from any physical reaction and raised to some cerebral, abstract place - and plenty of gigs where most sane human beings would consider there was nothing actually musical going on. I haven't, but could pay for experimental theatre tickets. Lots of poetry. Whatever.

See all 20 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 20
  3. Negative: 6 out of 20
  1. 10
    Beautiful, bug free, captivating, and oh so indie. This game is, amazingly, only 488mb large.. and given the amount of moving, interacting art in this game, I'd say that alone is a huge accomplishment. For those with a creative mind, give this game a try! You can't solve any of this game's goals with an MP5, it requires thought and the payoff is a dark and thoughtful twist on an old tale reborn. Expand
    • 5 of 5 users said yes
  2. Basically, this is either a) one of the best things made with videogame technology ever made, or b) booooorring why can't I shoot anything? The key to understanding this "game" is that it isn't really that (for all the silly joke score at the end of each level). It's an art installation thingee that explores a good number of coming of age themes, as well as some of the not so submerged fears of that period in people's life. Some (see category b) call that "pretentious", by which they mean "I don't like that sort of thing". Others, myself included, see The Path as one of the most important works of the last decade. As they say on the internets, your mileage may vary. Expand
    • 4 of 4 users said yes
  3. MarcoTorelli
    2
    I vividly remember "American McGee's Alice" which coupled storytelling, design and gameplay into something that might be called "art" without forcefully shoving it into your face. The designers behind "The Path" did just that and ended up with a pseudo-intellectual crapfest that along the way sells its design deficencies as part of the supposed "art". Expand
    • 0 of 3 users said yes

See all 20 User Reviews