CLT

When I loaded up the new game CLT, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Could it be the Choplifter tactical role-playing game I've been waiting for? Or a maybe it's a sandwich-making simulator that specializes in chicken, lettuce and tomato? Or perhaps we're finally going to get a game that dives into the hotly-contested world of Cognitive Load Theory? Those are all good guesses, but I wasn't even close. The truth is, I'm not even saying it right, as you'll discover when I reveal one vital piece of information: This is a game about exploring female sexuality through tarot cards. That's right, CLT isn't an acronym at all. It's also unlike any other game I've played this year, and not just because of the stimulating subject matter. But does this creative adventure game hit just the right spot, or are you going to come away unfulfilled? And, more importantly, will this entire review be thinly-veiled innuendos? I guess you'll just have to find out.

The first thing you need to know about CLT is that it's not intended to be erotic. This isn't Dead or Alive Beach Volleyball or some lurid visual novel, but rather an honest and personal exploration of female sexuality as told through Rorschach tests and tarot cards. It's the kind of game that barely has any images and many of the words are purposely misspelled, leading us through a convoluted web of names, ideas, locations and thoughts before eventually devolving into absolute gibberish. In other words, it absolutely nails the subject matter.

Thankfully, the gameplay is a lot more straightforward than trying to explain the complexities of sexuality. All ten stages use a deck of twenty-four tarot cards, with the goal being to navigate your way to the non-existent 25th card, which symbolizes reaching the climax. Every time you select a card, two more will pop up, allowing you to choose the direction you want to go, which may lead you to the next part of the story or send you right back to the beginning.

When I say that you choose the direction the story goes, that is a bit misleading. It's true that you get to choose between either the top or bottom cards, but it's not always clear what they mean. The cards are represented by some sort of name, something that changes based on the theme of the stage. CLT starts with cards named after notable sexologists, but quickly turns into you flicking between ex-boyfriends, girlfriends and even adult film actors. Sometimes it's not a person at all, such as when you need to pick between famous cities, popular songs and name-brand bedroom toys.

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Although it's not obvious at first, these ten stages are slowly telling a story about a woman's sexual awakening. We're there as she discovers dirty films at a young age, hooks up at parties, desperately tries to locate one of her toys and a lot more. You'll get a tiny piece of the story on the back of each card, pushing you to keep the narrative going by choosing names you haven't already uncovered and ultimately finding your way to the end of each vignette.

This starts out incredibly simple. In fact, the first few levels are so basic that I lucked my way into hitting that climax and moving on. It wasn't until a few stages in that I began to understand the structure, and by that point I was already fully invested in the narrative experience. But for as challenging as the game becomes by the end, it rarely dips into frustration. As long as I could remember the names or numbers, I would be able to navigate my way through most of the card-filled mazes. There was really only one stage that forced me to map out the choices in order to keep from going in a loop, and this is what I came up with.

You may have noticed that I have continued to use the CLT acronym instead of using the proper name. While part of the reason is to keep this review from getting flagged, it's also in solidarity with the way the story is spelled out. The developer describes it as a "protest against the idea that games are meant to be nothing more than infantilized escapism," noting that "any distribution platform that chooses to censor the game because of its adult content does so in bad faith, as it doesn't really exist outside of the eye of the beholder." I thought about these words as I wrote this review, annoyed that something as silly as saying the game's name properly may get my review tossed into an adults-only part of YouTube's algorithm. I can gleefully talk about shooting video game villains in the face in the gruesome way possible without fear of getting demonetized, but I have to dance around words and sayings when talking about a tarot card game pertaining to female sexuality. That's a shame.

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Beyond the protest, there are two aspects of the game that ultimately left me unsatisfied. For starters, I would argue that the foreplay is a lot more interesting than the climax. The narrative starts to lose its way in the last two stages, which is disappointing considering how strong some of the earlier chapters were. I also wish the game had a more attractive presentation. While I like the hand-painted card designs, I quickly became bored of seeing the same backgrounds and colors. I also don't like how the screen is presented vertically, almost as if it was designed to be played on a smart phone. The blurred-out letterboxing is also kind of ugly and doesn't serve a purpose. The general presentation is a little disappointing.

Of course, it's the creative concept and unique storytelling that will lure you in, not necessarily the barebones presentation. For that reason, I'm inclined to give it a tepid recommendation, if only because I want to see more games explore this type of adventurous topic. It may get lost in the deep end, but CLT will have you double clicking in a whole new way.