Where the Water Tastes Like Wine

Lore & Background

Where the Water Tastes Like Wine is a narrative-driven adventure game in which players explore a Great Depression-era United States, hearing and collecting oral stories and passing them along. Stories are used as a form of progression, with characters gradually opening up to the player in response to the provided stories, which in turn allows one to learn their true stories. The player may purchase goods to replenish their hunger or tiredness, with money being earned and then spent on goods or faster means of transportation. Several means of transport are available, including walking, hitchhiking, and freighthopping.

The game's title is an excerpt from the traditional American folk song 'Going Down the Road Feeling Bad' (also known as the 'Lonesome Road Blues'). According to the developer, the game's initial release was a commercial disaster. Creator Johnnemann Nordhagen wrote in a postmortem that in the first few weeks fewer people bought the game than he had Twitter followers, and that it was 'astounding that a game that got this much attention from the press, that won awards, that had an all-star cast of writers and performers, that had a bizarre celebrity guest appearance [by the musician Sting] failed this hard.' Nordhagen concluded, 'Basically, I'm not sure that games like this one can continue to be made in the current market.'

Reader's Guide

Where the Water Tastes Like Wine received 'mixed or average' reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic, with the Switch version receiving slightly worse reviews than the PC version. It was awarded the Developers Choice Award along with Walden, a game at the 2017 IndieCade Festival. Despite this recognition, the game was a commercial failure, as detailed by creator Johnnemann Nordhagen in a postmortem. He noted that in the first few weeks, fewer people bought the game than he had Twitter followers, and expressed astonishment that a game with significant press attention, awards, an all-star cast of writers and performers, and a cameo by musician Sting could fail so hard. Nordhagen questioned whether such games could continue to be made in the current market. The game's soundtrack, a 30-track compilation spanning folk, jazz, country, blues, and bluegrass, was praised as an authentic representation of Americana and was licensed and released by Materia Collective, with a limited edition vinyl pressed by Laced Records.

Did You Know?

• The game featured a cameo by musician Sting.
• It was awarded the Developers Choice Award at the 2017 IndieCade Festival.
• The soundtrack includes 30 tracks spanning folk, jazz, country, blues, and bluegrass.