Mandagon Review

Mandagon

Created by Blind Sky Studios

Published by Blind Sky Studios

Mandagon is a simple platformer game based on the Tibetan philosophy and Buddhism. You play as a square little totem who is trying to open a giant red door as you are trapped inside this one level. I, unfortunately, cannot talk about Mandagon without revealing its spoilers. If this information so far that I have given you is enough then I hope you enjoy the game. The rest of you have been warned about the spoilers ahead.

The totem you play as in the Mandagon was once a man who gave his life up for his daughter. The totem's daughter was dying of some kind of lung disease, Mandagon doesn't really specify what type of lung disease, and the totem decided to die in the place of his daughter. Now that you are in the afterlife you see plenty of symbolism for lungs and large murals depicting the replacement of bad lungs with good lungs. As the totem you eventually also find a mummified man sitting cross legged between an image of Buddha and a Wrathful deity. I theroise that mummified man was who the totem once was before asking the gods to help spare his daughter's life.

Mandagon's music is very calming. Richard Jackson, the music, SFX, and sound design guy, did a beautiful job of making the music both ancient sounding yet still to modern tastes. The music has a low thrumming background, then there's the light strumming of the shakuhachi and the occasional light hit of a gong. There are obviously more sounds to it than the examples I have provided but overall the music is amazingly relaxing. If you want to know more about the sound design and music of Mandagon Richard Jackson has written a blog about his work and you can go here if you want.

The artwork of Mandagon is a simple type of elegant. It gives an impression that the artist, Tom Kitchen, decided to use the mosaic method with paint. This 2D game has decaying homes, overgrown shrubbery, old statues, and large bodies of water. Visually, playing Mandagon is like walking through a snow covered forest by yourself. It's pleasant, a bit isolating, but refreshing.

Mandagon game play is simple enough. Collect six tablets, place them inside six stone blocks and open the giant red door so you can go speak to Yama.

You can get this game on Steam for free or you can get this game as an app for $2. I have not found anyplace else that you can get Mandagon at.

Overall I give Mandagon 5/5 stars. My favorite part of the game were the birds and I hope you enjoy this game if you get it. I also wrote down all the spoken works Mandagon has right here if you want to see it.