Why don't you stay a while?From left to right
"How... did you get in here? Adeline? You're not supposed to be here, Adeline... You need to get out."
— Peter
TinkerQuarry is an indie RPG (made using RPG Maker among other programs) created by developer Hallowraith (formerly known as Connisaur). It centers around a little girl, whom the player names, who wakes up in Another Dimension known as the Dollhouse, inhabited by Living Toys. First she meets Staya (short for "Stayawhile"), a mechanical dog-like toy who wants the girl to stay and play with him. After Staya leads the girl further into the Dollhouse, she meets a plush rabbit named Peter, who apparently knows her. He tells her that her real name is Adeline, and Staya is a monster who forces all the toys to stay in the Dollhouse forever, and she needs to escape. The girl and Peter begin their quest to help the girl escape from the Dollhouse, all while meeting a quirky cast of other toys, and learning more about the girl's identity and past.
You can purchase the game here
on Steam. The game was in early access for a while, and it was initially uploaded on June 12, 2017. However, the full version was released on September 13, 2019.
Wraith also relelased a Christmas-themed spinoff of the game called JingleQuarry. It tells a story of the toys taking a break from their usual activities to celebrate Christmas together. There are no enemies or battles, your only goal is to explore the Dollhouse (which is decorated for the holiday) and find 12 Peppermints hidden around the Dollhouse to unlock a secret in the library.
This game contains examples of:
- Aerith and Bob: Some of the toys have names like Peter, Clint, and Stella, and then there are others with names like Sera (
formerly Cera), Whiskers, Frutti, and more. Probably justified by them being toys, who may have come from a variety of places, or it could be because they were named by a little girl, who probably wouldn't have had consistency in mind. - Air-Vent Passageway: Near the beginning, you find a screwdriver, which allows you to go into the Dollhouse's vents. You'll do this multiple times throughout the game.
- And I Must Scream: Peter states that those in the Dollhouse cannot die, but they can be "impaired", which can be even scarier if no one is there to heal you."Be sure to always watch your Condition. If it runs out, you won't die, but you will not be able to move. And if there is nobody left to help us... well, we'll be like that forever".
- Angry Guard Dog: Invoked with Staya. He's a mechanical toy dog with clock parts, and he wants to keep everyone from leaving the Dollhouse. Considering his clock parts, you could say he's a literal watchdog.
- Arc Words: "Stay a while".
- Art Evolution: The v1.5 "Quality of Life" update includes new and improved artwork for cutscenes and character dialogue sprites. The cutscene artwork originally had a very soft, digital look, but the new artwork has more of a sketchy, hand-drawn look.
- Ax-Crazy: Many of the bosses encountered (especially Staya, Sera, and Stella) are shown to be very mentally unstable, and attack the protagonists with little provocation.
- Badass Adorable: Our cast includes a little girl, and several adorable toy animals. And nearly all of them are dangerous fighters.
- Bag of Holding: The Magic Parcel, an item that Adeline picks up at the beginning of the game. It holds the other toys (who the bag shrinks down to carry) and presumably the items Adeline picks up as well.
- Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": The toys have come up with names for their "species". For example, plush toys are called "Softies", and mechanical toys are called "Tinkers".
- Christmas Episode: In December 2017, Hallowraith released a short Christmas-themed spinoff game called JingleQuarry, and updated it for Christmas 2018. You can download it here.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Toys that are alive are in full color, while toys that are "Impaired" (the closest a toy can come to death) are in grayscale. Enemies and bosses will also turn gray in battle to indicate that their health is low.
- Control Freak: Staya is determined to make sure everyone stays in the Dollhouse. He has written signs all over the place commanding its residents to stay where they are, and he angrily confronts anyone who he believes is trying to escape.
- Crapsaccharine World: A life-sized dollhouse inhabited by Living Toys sounds like a great place, but unfortunately, it is controlled by Staya, a psychotic toy Angry Guard Dog, and also home to some other dangerous toys, as well as equally vicious rats. The Dollhouse is completely surrounded by a seemingly endless mass of darkness referred to as the Void, meaning that as far as the characters know, it's not even possible to leave. Fortunately, there are quite a few toys who are friendly and heroic, but most of them are trapped by, or hiding from, Staya and the other enemies.
- Creepy Cockroach: There's a small room filled with mechanical cockroach enemies. To make things worse, they actively chase after you instead of just wandering around like most other enemies. A sign near the room tells us that they are Walter's pets. Apparently, he's not just a sleazy shopkeeper, he's also a Pest Controller.
- Cute Kitten: Although he resembles an adult cat, Whiskers has a cheerful personality, and is quite the Nice Guy, invoking this.
- Death Is Gray: While the toys cannot die, they can be "Impaired", which traps them in a death-like state. When a toy is either Impaired or close to being Impaired, they lose all their color and go grayscale.
- Death Seeker: The Glass Dragon, apparently. It implores you to activate a strange device, should you find one. Said device turns out to be a giant weight on the roof, which, when you activate the switch, drops down, shattering the Glass Dragon.
- Developer's Foresight: Adeline and Peter are the only mandatory party members. For the others, you can choose whether to recruit them or not. Having certain characters in your party will have them pitch in additional dialogue in most cutscenes, and any cutscene images showing the party together will add in whichever characters you have.
- Fantastic Livestock: Some characters farm the game's enemies for resources:
- Wilson catches Roaches and keeps them in a room for Staya to take whenever he comes by. According to Word of God, Staya uses the Roaches to feed the Rat King.
- Immanuel has an endless supply of Lesser Softies, teddy-bear-like enemies, that he sends into an unseen machine to harvest their fabric and stuffing.
- Wilson catches Roaches and keeps them in a room for Staya to take whenever he comes by. According to
- Friendly Neighborhood Spider: Skid is a living plastic toy spider who exhibits a Cheerful Child-like personality, and is one of the sweetest and kindest characters in the game.
- The Ghost: In the Residence Halls, we see a few names (on the door labels) of characters who we never get to meet. Their names are Abigail and Zip. Their rooms are all either empty or locked, which is rather unnerving. What happened to Abigail is revealed in Clint’s notes; while the two of them were trying to investigate the area outside the dollhouse, she got knocked off by Sera and shattered on the ground. We never find who Zip was.
- Killer Teddy Bear: In general, despite the cast being adorable toy animals, most of them are capable fighters. Actual teddy bears appear as enemies in one area.
- Letter Motif: All of the shopkeeper characters have names starting with W.
- Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!: Some of the toys resemble humans, but most resemble animals. And then, there's Adeline, the only real human in the Dollhouse. Justified because the other characters are Living Toys, so they can easily be made to look like anything, regardless of species.
- Living Toys: The Dollhouse is a world inhabited by toys belonging to a little girl, who were previously normal and lifeless before coming to life through mysterious circumstances.
- Merry Christmas in Gotham: The main game has a dark story about Living Toys and a little girl trapped in an Eldritch Location with psychotic toys and evil, shadowy rats. There is a Christmas spinoff game called JingleQuarry that has all the toys coming together to celebrate Christmas. Sera and Stella, two of the psychotic toys who are bosses in the main game, are welcomed into the celebrations. Staya, the Big Bad, has been banished to the upper floor for bad behavior, but rather than murderous rage, his reaction is just mild indignation. There are no enemies, no fighting or violence, just a little quest where you go around the Dollhouse and collect peppermints.
- Mood Whiplash: Skid and Whiskers' introductory scene, which is normally completely happy, becomes this if you take Sera's Essence before seeing them. While Skid and Whiskers are contemplating joining your team, Skid stops mid-sentence, his expression turns grim, and he asks to see what's in your bag. You are forced to reveal Sera's Essence to them, and they are so horrified that they attack you.
- Multiple Endings: The game has different endings depending on the choices you make. Most notably, if you don't get Clint, you'll just defeat Staya and leave the Dollhouse. But if you do get him, you have to fight and escape from Clint, leading to a different ending with a flashback sequence.
- Nostalgic Music Box: Music boxes serve as Save Points in the game. When opened, they play a sweet-sounding tune. The music boxes are also where you meet Odette, a friendly music box ballerina.
- No Power, No Color: While the toys cannot die, they can be "Impaired", which traps them in a death-like state. When a toy is either Impaired or close to being Impaired, they lose all their color and go grayscale.
- Offscreen Teleportation: Despite being a tiny music box ballerina, Odette somehow manages to get to different places across the house. Peter asks her about this the first time it happens, and she simply says that she walked.
- Orchestral Bombing: One of the battle themes is an epic orchestral theme simply titled "Attacked".
- Our Souls Are Different: Each toy has their own specialized soul, called an Essence. It takes the form of a floating object that is visible in the toy's chest in battle. Word of God states that each toy actually is their Essence, with their bodies being simply vessels. If needed, a toy's Essence can be placed in the body of another toy, and they can continue on as if nothing happened.
- Party in My Pocket: Justified. Adeline gets a "Magic Parcel", which shrinks the toys in your party down to the size of normal toys so Adeline can carry them around. The toys can leave the Magic Parcel, upon which they return to normal size, whenever they wish, which happens in battles and in important cutscenes.
- Public Domain Soundtrack: Downplayed. While the soundtrack is mostly original, ambient music, there are some classical tunes too.
- Route Boss:
- After defeating Sera, if you choose to take her Essence instead of leaving it behind, you will have to face two extra bosses. The first is Skid and Whiskers, who attack you to avenge Sera and as a result, you are unable to recruit them into your party. The second is the Chimera, a horrific fusion of Skid, Whiskers, and Sera. To make things worse, the latter comes immediately after the second fight with Staya, which is mandatory either way.
- Clint is an optional party member. If you don't recruit him, the Final Boss is simply a third battle with Staya. If you do recruit Clint, he ends up betraying the party, crippling Staya, and becoming the True Final Boss.
- Tile-Flipping Puzzle: Camime's right puzzle room contains a puzzle like this. There are 4 switches along a hallway, and at the end of the hallway is a wall of drums blocking a prize. To get the prize, you must flip the switches into a certain configuration to move the drums out of your way. However, you can't see the drums while you're flipping switches, you have to walk to the end of the hallway after flipping a switch to see how the drums moved.
- Toy-Based Characterization: An unusual, inverted example where the toy takes on the personality of its owner. The Girl had many toys, but her favorite was Fido, the Jumping Dog. Both the Girl and Fido used to be innocent and sweet. However, it's implied that the Girl's parents eventually became abusive towards her. The Girl took out her anger by abusing her toys because she didn't know they were Living Toys. The Girl treated Fido like her partner in attacking the toys, yet she also abused him by tearing off his fur. Fido (later known as Staya) became Ax-Crazy as a result of his abuse. He feels loyal to the Girl despite what she did to him, and he wants her to come back so they can continue abusing the other toys together.
- Toy Transmutation: Subverted. In the ending where Clint betrays the party, he kidnaps Adeline, planning to make her his wife. But since Clint is a toy soldier, he's not pleased with Adeline's human body, so he stitches a doll body, intending to transplant her soul into it. However, Adeline escapes before he can perform the transplant.
- Tragic Abandoned Toy: Zig-zagged. Some of the toys have tragic backstories, but almost none of them are upset about being abandoned by the Girl. In fact, many of them dislike her because she played rough with them. Only a few, like Peter and Whiskers, realize that she wasn't really a bad person, rather, she abused them to vent the stress of living with abusive, alcoholic parents, and she didn't know the toys were alive. The only one who really misses the Girl is Staya, who is also a Vengeful Abandoned Toy.
- Troubled Toybreaker: Once upon a time, there was a girl who had many toys, her favorite being Fido the Jumping Dog (who would later become Staya). They used to be sweet and innocent, but when her parents started becoming abusive to her, she started to abuse her toys in turn. She and Fido/Staya would beat up the toys together, but she also abused him by tearing out his fur, which she did so often that he looks like a robotic skeleton with a dog's head in the present day. As a result, Staya became Ax-Crazy, but still feels loyalty toward the Girl. He wants her to return to the Dollhouse so they can continue abusing the other toys together.
- Vengeful Abandoned Toy:
- Staya was the Girl's favorite toy before she disappeared due to dying of an unknown illness. She used to play a game with him where they attacked and beat up the other toys (likely because the Girl didn't know the other toys were alive). He just wants her to come back so they can continue playing their game again, even if it is a sadistic one. He does fight Adeline, who he suspects is the Girl, in three boss fights, but it's implied that he's trying to capture her rather than kill her in the first two. In the third, he attacks because he's devastated that Adeline is not the Girl, and the Girl is dead.
- Averted with most of the other Living Toys. They are aware that the Girl left them, but most don't seem to know why. Either way, very few of them care that she's gone, because she often attacked them and beat them up, not knowing they were alive. Even the ones that are Ax-Crazy seem to have other reasons for it besides the Girl leaving them.
- Wham Shot: Clint piercing his bayonett through Staya's mouth, as well as his Essence, and then revealing his betrayal.
- Whole-Plot Reference: The game's story was heavily inspired by The Nutcracker, what with the protagonist being a young girl, the evil mice, the heroic toy soldiers. And more.
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