I have kept playing and found the first boss battle, the Garden Captain. I tried my luck against it twice failing both times. I re-explored the map to see if there was any way around this fight and found that the only way is through.

My younger son, Diego, is visiting. He is a grown man to be married in three weeks. I mentioned I was playing Tunic and he had a reaction of a pleasant memory. He may have been one of the people who recommended the game to me. He knows of my dislike of mandatory boss battles.

When they were young(er) my sons and I would play videogames together. At first I was selecting the games. We would take turns at the keyboard or at the game controller. We would collaborate on what were designed to be single-player games.

When they were old enough to choose their own games I would still watch. I could contribute when they would get stuck on a particularly thorny puzzle. When they played fast-twitch-response games like Super Smash Bros I couldn’t keep up. When I was playing a game that required quick key combos to defeat a boss they would battle for me as my champions.

I handed my Steam Deck to Diego and asked him if he would get me past this boss. He said “Hoo-boy, it’s been a long time since I played Tunic” calibrating both of our expectations. His muscle memory was good. He got it on the third try. He made use of a power-up I had but hadn’t yet learned to use.

He flies back to his home today.