Rosewater

From the very moment I booted up Rosewater, I could tell that developer Grundislav Games were going to be true to the Western theme and all its tropes. The game opens with Harley Ledger, the adventure’s protagonist, giving a monologue about her connection to the Western frontier as she stares out the window of a train bound for the sleepy town of Rosewater. She’s moving to the town from Lamplight City with “just a little hope” that she can make a living as a journalist at the local pa...

Rosewater is a marvelous surprise in the middle of the first half of 2025 games. With a captivating story and charming characters, traversing the wild west is a delight. It’s not as challenging as some other point and click games, but what Grundislav has built is a great example of what this genre can offer to reach a greater audience. Lasso this one up ASAP.

Rosewater is a treasure-hunting adventure in a Wild West inspired land, set in the same universe as the detective game Lamplight City. With a great presentation, interesting puzzles, and a good cast of characters, it’s worth taking a look at despite the narrative lacking the strong focus of its predecessor.

Rosewater tells an engaging Western story despite a well-worn formula.

Jon Stewart coats Rosewater in the titular perfume, a harsh situation smelling sweeter thanks to square production value, a reticent script, and Howard Shore's milquetoast, acoustic score. For a movie about political turmoil and human rights violations, it's all very nice. Filled with Stewart's insight, Rosewater's greatest revelation is also its most trivial. In a recreation of Jones' interview with Bahari, we're given a look at how The Daily Show team produces and shoots their fly away segments. Who knew?

My own enjoyment of Rosewater feels like a contagion in that way. Not just from the joy that palpably went into its creation, or the fact that the star-studded voice cast (including Arthur Morgan and the narrator of Baldur’s Gate 3) clearly had the time of their lives. I enjoy it because it reminds me of the games I could spend a month on back in the aughts. Other times, though - when I’ve spent a half hour wandering around, exhausting dialogue options in hopes of connecting the dots that...

Rosewater combines the Wild West and traditional point-and-click mechanics with relative success, taking players on a road trip that is more about relationship building than the trip’s purpose. Which is both its biggest selling point and frustration. Rosewater is full of well-written and performed characters, but it’s hard to care about all of them when they’re not your headline.