The Path- Alex Van Pelt

"The Path" was one of the most interesting games I've ever played, mixing perceptions of reality with the player's sense of "right" and "wrong". When I first clicked on a random girl, I followed the pathway straight to the house, never deterring. I failed that level, and was confused- why did the instructions tell me to stay on the path?

Answer? There is no path. Eventually you make it to the house, but not without various twists and turns. All of the characters had some sort of point about death vs. life- that, with the fact that all of them died after their individual temptations, or 'wolves', encountered them, made me think that his game was a metaphor for life itself. One destination- death- with different paths associated with each girl, which represented a sort of archetype of different types of people.

I was also surprised that the only girl to safely reach the house and pass through all the 'death' rooms was the girl in white. Even more curious was the fact that hanging about the grandmother's bed was a picture of the girl in white- she was the true Red Riding Hood, and she didn't have a wolf. She stands in the original first room, bloodied, while the rest of the other "Reds" come in one by one, but she promptly disappears.

The girl in white is the only character that didn't give in to temptation, and the only girl to reach the end goal of the grandmother successfully- is the game trying to tell us the same thing that the original fairytale is? Be good, and don't give into temptation? Or is it more fun to meet your own personal 'wolf' just to say you experienced it?