The Stillness of the Wind Review (Switch)

Game: The Stillness of the Wind
System: Nintendo Switch
Publisher: Fellow Traveller
Developer:Memory of God aka Coyan Cardenas/ Lambic Studios
Price: £9.99| $10.99| € 11,49
Age Rating: UK 12+| USA 10+
Release Date: 24 December 2018
Also available on: Mobile iOS  | PC

No code was provided I bought it myself

Stillness of the Wind is a game unlike any game I have ever played before. Let’s start with that!

You play as Talma, an elderly goat farmer who stayed behind while everyone else moved away to the city to chase their dreams. She remembers a time when 16 pairs of shoes were waiting at the door each morning. No more, now it’s just her two goats, some chickens and Talma.

The days fade away while Talma is doing her best to keep the farm going. Her only visitor is a traveling merchant who also delivers her mail every day. They are both old, reminiscing about the days when they played together in the thriving community. Aside from bartering with him to get things you need for your goats or small vegetable patch, he brings her the mail. Letters that are her only remaining connection to her family far away.

Adjust your pace to Talma

There is no right way to play The Stillness of the Wind. The farm consists of her small house, a churning hut, a goat enclosure and some chickens running around. There’s also a well for fetching water needed to grow crops. Your tools are waiting leaning against the wall, a hoe to work the land. A bucket to milk the goats. A pot beside the well to fetch water in.

Pretty soon you notice that this isn’t your average farming sim. Talma is old, and this means she is forced to take it slow. Which means, so must you. This is the first thing that struck me about the game, as I had never played as an elderly before. I’ve read comments online of people not liking the game for it, but it struck a chord for me.

You see, my mother is 85 and isn’t very mobile anymore. She cannot go out on her own, depending on us to take her anywhere she needs to go. But she can still manage by herself in her little apartment, using a walker to get about. Things go slowly. Every chore she does takes a long time. Doing what little laundry she has, setting the table, making her bed. And even though my brother and I are there for her as much of we can, she is still alone. Has been, since my father died 6 years ago. And she never got used to losing him.

The Stillness of the Wind brings that realisation home to you: you are all alone. And you can’t rush. You just have to do what you can, and try to be content with it. Even though the loneliness is weighing on you and every building and item you touch conjures up memories.

Minimal controls and tutorial

The entire game is controlled by A and B. Point Talma where you want her to go, and every action requests pressing A at set times. But don’t forget the + button: it gives you the option to reset all items to their original position, which comes in handy to make sure your items can be easily found.

Like I said, there’s no wrong way to play the game. Though I must say I have never before deleted a game from my Switch just to start from scratch. I did, with this one. You see, at my first attempt I didn’t see I had to make sure my hay was well stocked. So one morning I found one of my two goats dead.

On the surface, The Stillness of the Wind is a simulation game, where you tend a small farm. But if you think that is the essence of the gameplay you are missing the entire point. This is a game about loneliness, about old age and about carrying on when everything around you is fading. 

Time is short

Talma has so much to do and so little time. Be prepared that you can’t do everything on one day. It’s no use to till a lot of squares for seed, as you won’t be able to water them all. After all, the pot only holds water for five squares. And going back to the well takes time. You can milk both goats and make two cheeses out of it, and collect the eggs from the chickens.

Don’t forget Talma needs to eat as well, and cook her own food. There are mushrooms out in the desert that can fetch a nice price. Many chores, and the days literally grow shorter as you progress in the game. It helped when bought a lantern that lighted the courtyard and prolonging the day a bit.

There’s one event daily you don’t want to miss: chat with the travelling merchant. He comes to your mailbox, and calls out once. Be in the vicinity, otherwise you’ll miss him and his letters. He brings you hay and seed, but the letters are the key to the game. They are increasingly disturbing, and Talma is left powerless, she can’t do anything about it all. It gives her nightmares at night.

Very much a game where the atmosphere matters

Everything about the game influences your mood. The minimal soundtrack, the graphics of the characters. The colours they used, the content of the letters and the books that Talma has on her nightstand. I dreaded the fact that a gun leans against the wall of your house. And sure enough, as if Talma didn’t struggle enough, wolves roam around at night growling in the background.

The colours did give me some grief, as I had a hard time reading the white texts of the barter menu, even with my reading glasses. And I do feel steering Talma on her course doesn’t always work well enough. The game is also available on iOS and maybe the touch screen works better with it.

Conclusion

This game will stay with me for a long time, even if it’s only three hours in play time. It’s a game about old age, about loneliness and losing the people around you. It’s also a game about stubbornly carry on and about old friendships.

Don’t play it if you are looking for a farming sim. Don’t play it if you are looking for a time management game. Play it if you want to experience something special, but do consider which device you will play it on.

I will give the game an I Like it a Lot, the game really resonated with me!