A Fisherman's Tale

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A Fisherman's Tale is a 2019 virtual reality puzzle game developed by InnerspaceVR and published by Vertigo Games. The game takes place in a recursive lighthouse world where you control a puppet inside the lighthouse.

Gameplay
You play as a puppet trapped in a lighthouse. The main room contains a scale model of the lighthouse, and a smaller puppet mirrors your actions in the model while the real lighthouse holds a larger version. What you place in the model appears as a life-size object in the lighthouse, and removing an object from the model removes it from the lighthouse. The game has four levels, each exploring a different area of the lighthouse. You can stretch your hands to reach far objects, and a narrator can offer hints if you turn them on.

Development
The game was built in Unreal Engine 4 and uses a stylized art style chosen to run well in virtual reality.

Release
It released for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 on January 22, 2019. An Oculus Quest port followed later, in 2020. A sequel, originally titled Another Fisherman’s Tale and later renamed A Fisherman’s Tale 2, was released on May 11, 2023.

Reception
A Fisherman's Tale received generally favorable reviews. Critics praised the story and ideas but felt the game is short and that the dollhouse mechanic only scratches the surface of what could be done with recursive gameplay. Some reviews suggested the mechanics had more potential for deeper interactions.

See also
Maquette, another game with a similar mechanic.