Magic brush – review of the game “Concrete Genie”

The main character of Concrete Geniethere is Ash – a boy with an artistic flair, who from an early age decorated the streets and pavements of his hometown – Denski with drawings. Currently, the protagonist is one of the last inhabitants of a port town that fell into decline due to an ecological disaster. He spends his time filling the pages of his sketchbook with images of fantastic creatures and running away from hooligans that haunt him. One of the meetings with the troubled youth roaming the deserted streets turns out to be particularly fateful for Ash. The persecutors tear off and throw away some pages from the notebook with drawings, and the boy himself is locked in a cable car going to the (allegedly haunted) lighthouse. There, Ash meets Luna – the first genie he draws to come to life. The ghost assigns the boy the task of cleaning the city from the black and purple substance covering the port area with the help of a magic brush. From that moment on, Ash starts painting on the walls of the buildings again, this time for a higher purpose.

Ash and two brushes

An element that attracts attention from the first contact with the game is the original, extremely eye-catching visuals of Concrete Genie . The creators did not hide their inspiration from the film achievements of Laika studio, as well as Tim Burton and Jim Henson. Indeed, if you know Coraline , Halloween Town or the Dark Crystal , it’s hard not to notice some similarities in terms of character appearance, colors, genie design, and even the color palette used.

Human heroes are deceptively similar to dolls from stop-motion animations like Kubo and two strings. And not only in appearance, but also in terms of movement. As the authors of the game admit, in order to obtain a characteristic effect, the characters were animated by hand, without the use of motion capture technology . In turn, the appearance of ghosts created by Ash is indeed reminiscent of the works of Burton or the works of the Muppet father. However, I associated them with something else, namely with the work of Karol “KaErEl” Kalinowski. And although I realize that it is rather unlikely that any of the artists working on Concrete Genie will have Łauma , Borka and Sambor in their hands , or Kościsko, the whole game I couldn’t get over the impression that the genies are incredibly similar to the fantastic creatures from the works of the Polish comic book artist.

Fantastic Genies and How to Paint Them

Exactly, genies. The title characters of the game, around which not only the plot, but also the gameplay of Concrete Genie is built . The colorful characters from Ash’s drawings are a substitute for the boy’s friends, and therefore an equally important task as cleaning the town from the “plague” is to find the sketches blown by the wind. Phenomenally animated in two dimensions, they are also helpers, thanks to which our hero can overcome further obstacles. They have different skills depending on the color. They can, among other things, turn on electrical devices or set fire to fabric sheets. In addition, when they are happy, they replenish the magical superpaint needed to paint over the most difficult parts. And nothing makes genies happier than custom-made drawings.

The game guides us from one task to another in a linear way, opening up new parts of the world and unlocking new powers. At the same time, we have a lot of freedom in terms of the pace of the game and the exploration of streets and roofs in search of pages with additional sketches of genie parts, backgrounds and situations, as well as newspapers with the chronicle of Denska’s fall. We can also stop completely and focus on filling the walls with new magical graffiti both in the main part of the game and in the free-painting mode. And as the number of items available increases, creating genies and their surroundings becomes more and more fun. You do have to get used to drawing with controller movements (in case of big problems you can switch to the knob), but the creators made sure that it was entertainment available to everyone.

Initially, the game focuses on running around the streets, jumping on roofs and painting in the right places, and occasional escape from hooligans. However, in the second installment of Concrete Genie there  is a twist and a change in gameplay as well. From now on, more arcade elements and combat appear. Until the end, however, this is not a difficult game, but rather a relaxing title that is suitable for less experienced players or simply looking for something lighter in terms of mechanics.

Concrete Genie is a production aimed mainly at younger audiences, which is why it has been almost completely Polish. Almost because only the headlines were translated from the articles about Denska’s history, leaving the original content. It is quite a strange decision, considering that newspapers are collectibles that significantly complement the plot. The translation itself does not raise any major objections, except perhaps the use of the not very appropriate word “tyrant” as an equivalent of the English “bully”. On the other hand, Polish dubbing is comparable to the above-mentioned animated productions, and therefore quite good.

Moral murals

It is worth noting that, despite the fairy-tale setting and a fairly low level of difficulty, Concrete Genie raises a rather difficult, and at the same time important and current topic of child abuse. As the game progresses, we form a true bond with Ash’s imaginary friends and learn more about his stalkers and why they acted. For an adult audience, these are not some deadly original reflections, but I suppose they can evoke emotions, and maybe even make younger players reflect. The more so because the team members used their own experiences while creating the story. In this respect, the production of the Pixelopus studio reminds me primarily of the great Papo & Yo,whose author dealt with the issue of his father’s alcoholism in a similar way.

Concrete Genie is a short, not very demanding, and at the same time very nice game. The creators provided the recipients with an extremely eye-catching graphic design and a lot of fun when creating colorful murals with fantastic creatures, and additionally enriched their work with a valuable message. Perfect for anyone who scribbled in the margins of school notes… or still does.