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In my first puzzle, I find a lever sitting next to a closed door. I very quickly learn how to start deducing the meaning of those symbols. All I can do at first is copy them down in my handy notebook. Characters only speak to me in a series of symbols, and they’re written down on signs I can’t read. The inhabitants only speak and write in fictional languages made up of unfamiliar symbols. At first, I didn’t know anything about my surroundings, and that’s because there’s not a word of English to explain the background. Tower of BabelĬhants of Sennaar takes place in and around a mysterious tower in the desert. It’s a clever puzzle premise that’s already changing the way I think about other languages, as well as my capacity to grasp their basics with a little extra brain power. After going hands-on with a 45-minute demo at this year’s Tribeca Fest, Chants of Sennaar instantly became one of my most anticipated games of 2023’s stacked back half.
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