Sable
Review

Sable (2021) is an adventure game where you play a young girl, Sable, alone in the world, but bravely exploring ancient monuments, ruined architecture, and fallen ships to uncover her place in it. It's an adventure without combat that calls you to find your story in the Dune-like desert.

At the start of the game, you decide to leave your home and your family. It's a coming-of-age tale told through a journey into a seemingly endless desert. With an emphasis on investigation rather than combat, you learn the history behind the broken monuments scattered through the land, how the nomadic clans arrived, and what made them stay.

As the world turns and the sun rises and falls, you travel by hover-bike and with on-foot exploration. Meeting and helping nomadic characters with their quests lets you learn their stories, as they lead you to the far reaches and hidden secrets of the sand-weathered planet.

In the game, you can read the heritage and civilisation of other characters by the mask they are wearing. Solving puzzles and obtaining the masks to wear enables you to explore more widely in the areas related to that particular culture.

It's a gentle game where, with Sable, you learn about life, family, and being a part of something greater than one's self. It's not a grand game, but a game where day-to-day existence becomes extraordinary because of where you are.

Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Sable 3 years ago. It was re-examined by Rich Adams and updated 9 days ago.