The Last Survey
Warmly recommended to whoever enjoys novels.
Warning, game offers close to zero interaction / agency, if a game must have these for you to enjoy it, walk away.
But if you can enjoy this, take it like a “novel++”. The story is intelligent, the writing is evocative yet concise, and art/audio fit perfectly, strengthening immersion into the story.
Hope the author(s) make more games 3.
EDIT oh, seeing my posted review, one last thing to temper expectations: it’s short. Appears as 3+ hours because I had the game paused while running for an errand, but it’s shorter.
– Real player with 3.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Interactive Fiction Hand-drawn Games.
This is a short and no-frills visual novel designed for a single playthrough, drawing attention to a serious and important topic, and it’s pretty good at what it does.
It makes no attempt at being “a real game”. Your options are limited to reading the protagonist’s well-formulated observations, memories, and considerations; watching the mesmerising ways in which the illustrations morph into each other to support the narrative; clicking to continue, and sometimes choosing one out of two lines that impact the outcome.
– Real player with 2.3 hrs in game
Back Then
Back Then is a yet unseen take in the videogame industry about an elderly poet diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, dealing not only with how our elders and their families change and learn to adapt to this newfound unavoidable and inevitable loss of memory and identity, but also show players that there is more to these situations than simple forgetfulness as we age.
Thomas Eilian is an elderly poet and writer diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Bound to only move around in a wheelchair, he finds himself alone for what seems like years roaming an empty house. “The clock is ticking, the hours are going by. The past increases, the future recedes. Possibilities decreasing, regrets mounting.”
-
In-depth narrative and storytelling experience.
-
Creative gameplay mechanics related to Alzheimer’s and forgetfulness, where the character starts to remember (and forget) his past and present.
-
Inspired by real events and stories of people with Alzheimer’s and neurodegenerative diseases, told by family members and loved ones.
-
Focus on interactivity, grab, interact with everything and learn as much as possible.
-
Scientific breakdown via collectibles about Alzheimer’s.
This is a story about Time, Death, and Soul. It is a story about the mind, from the mind. It is a story about ignorance and forgetfulness.
Through this story we hope to make as many people as we can uncomfortable, but aware to the reality of millions.
Read More: Best Interactive Fiction Adventure Games.
7 Grand Steps: What Ancients Begat
Ok, I’ve played this game over a period of years and I’ve stared guiltily at the ‘Mixed’ ratings for about as long.
Simply put, I love dynasty builders, so I’m gonna recommend this game. There are so few games that allow me to try to play through a bunch of historical family drama and this is one of them.
It’s a strange game, to be sure–but in gaming, strange is never a bad thing. But it does mean that this game is niche and just because I recommend doesn’t mean I have any illusions that everybody will enjoy this game. Either you’ll love it or you’ll hate having spent money on it. I don’t know if you’ll completely hate it outright: it’s too hard to categorize. It’s a weird, simple, arcade-style game about an ancient family trying to move up through the ranks. The mechanics have been explained well in other reviews, but the gist is you play out entire lifetimes, getting hitched (or not), giving birth to children that are a pain to feed and keep from hating each other, and you’ll be prompted with all sorts of story events. You’ll often go up and down. An entire arc (pushing through each age, last I checked I think there were about three) would take 15 hours. Plenty of replay value, simply based on choices in story events.
– Real player with 23.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Interactive Fiction Historical Games.
Towards the end of the Copper Age, things were finally looking up for my family. After many years of being bottom dwellers in the social caste system my family discovered the “alphabet” and the art of being a “physician”. This thrust us into the upper middleclass, and my only daughter, Senet, became the best child this family had ever seen. She was above the other children in the village with an absolute understanding of science and literature. When Senet left to discover herself she took a sizable inheritence with her.
– Real player with 20.7 hrs in game
Distant Dials
Distant Dials is a science-fiction MUSH (multi-user shared hallucination). It’s a multiplayer game requiring the player to create parts of the experience with others.
Distant Dials is a game relying on dialogues taking place in 2875. The player is a human who shall through discussions with others or with an IA, understand his current state and the state of mankind in this era. He will maybe reach another level of understanding allowing dialogues with 9 other players on issues of the past leading to where humanity is right now.
Acolyte: Prologue
My play through of the prologue here (once it uploads) if you get stuck and need help: https://youtu.be/9GET1gsMWZ0
I had so much fun with the prologue I’m super stoked to see what comes next also the link for the transcendent edition brought up a 404 error on itch.io. Check this game out for sure also it’s very easy to get stuck on a tangent if you make a mistake figuring out part of the puzzle. I had to close and reopen the game to get back to what I needed, luckily it saves your progress. I love games that make you think outside the box and use outside resources. I had two things that might have been glitches? I rated a haiku and the task didn’t complete I got information for a evidence database but I couldn’t find the evidence database I had two messages I couldn’t find in my message log and all messages were shown as read but regardless I still made it to the end of the prologue so nbd
– Real player with 8.7 hrs in game
so.. this sucks. don’t get me wrong, i LOVE this game, i just found it yesterday and I loved it. I beat the prologue, then went and bought the transcendent version to continue the story. (weirdly enough the transcendent edition has more actual bugs and not fictional bugs than the steam version, including spelling errors, but c’est la vie)
i’ve reached the part now where i had to fill my contacts list, and figure out the passwords to unlock the cosmetics. there are 0 hints for either. for the latter, the hints that ARE given, are extremely vague and i am unable to find any references for them that correlate to the actual game, and it’s extremely frustrating. what does “dog” mean in this context? the cosmetic was related to hair so i put poodle, nope. i also put cat, thinking back to the personality test, also nope. what does QR @ 0:40s mean? and the postal code? where would i even begin to find that? i understand this game is new, so there’s not a lot of info out there, but i’m stuck. (yes, i’ve looked through the discussions and reviews here for any hints, i’ve looked at the itch.io forums for this game, i’ve looked at twitter, ive looked at youtube, i’ve looked at reddit. i’ve even looked at your patreon to see if there was anything there.) i’m unable to progress because i have no idea what to ask, what the passwords might be for the cosmetics, or how to progress the storyline.
– Real player with 1.3 hrs in game
Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk
MILK INSIDE A BAG OF MILK INSIDE A BAG OF MILK INSIDE A BAG OF MILK INSIDE A BAG OF MILK INSIDE A BAG OF MILK INSIDE A BAG OF MILK I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜N̵҉̾͟͞͡Ṡ̷̢̫̞̻͈͋͛̓̅͜͜͜͠͠͠I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜D҉̣͍̓̎͗͜͜E҉̰̰͎̆͞ A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠ B̵̴҉̞̠̘̩͍̱́͊͗͜͠͠͠͠A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠G̸҉̜̜̱̄ͩ͆͜͝͞ O̷̵҉̢̭͚̜̠ͫͣ͐͢͟͢͠͞͝F̶̵͖͚̯̮̤̫̿̆͌͋͢͟͡͡ M̶̶҉̳͈̺͟͢͠͠ͅI҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜L̴҉̴͙͖̞̳̜̖ͣͧ̑̑͜͞͠͞͠K҉̿ͭ͘͜I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜N̵҉̾͟͞͡Ṡ̷̢̫̞̻͈͋͛̓̅͜͜͜͠͠͠I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜D҉̣͍̓̎͗͜͜E҉̰̰͎̆͞ A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠ B̵̴҉̞̠̘̩͍̱́͊͗͜͠͠͠͠A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠G̸҉̜̜̱̄ͩ͆͜͝͞ O̷̵҉̢̭͚̜̠ͫͣ͐͢͟͢͠͞͝F̶̵͖͚̯̮̤̫̿̆͌͋͢͟͡͡ M̶̶҉̳͈̺͟͢͠͠ͅI҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜L̴҉̴͙͖̞̳̜̖ͣͧ̑̑͜͞͠͞͠K҉̿ͭ͘͜I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜N̵҉̾͟͞͡Ṡ̷̢̫̞̻͈͋͛̓̅͜͜͜͠͠͠I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜D҉̣͍̓̎͗͜͜E҉̰̰͎̆͞ A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠ B̵̴҉̞̠̘̩͍̱́͊͗͜͠͠͠͠A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠G̸҉̜̜̱̄ͩ͆͜͝͞ O̷̵҉̢̭͚̜̠ͫͣ͐͢͟͢͠͞͝F̶̵͖͚̯̮̤̫̿̆͌͋͢͟͡͡ M̶̶҉̳͈̺͟͢͠͠ͅI҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜L̴҉̴͙͖̞̳̜̖ͣͧ̑̑͜͞͠͞͠K҉̿ͭ͘͜I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜N̵҉̾͟͞͡Ṡ̷̢̫̞̻͈͋͛̓̅͜͜͜͠͠͠I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜D҉̣͍̓̎͗͜͜E҉̰̰͎̆͞ A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠ B̵̴҉̞̠̘̩͍̱́͊͗͜͠͠͠͠A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠G̸҉̜̜̱̄ͩ͆͜͝͞ O̷̵҉̢̭͚̜̠ͫͣ͐͢͟͢͠͞͝F̶̵͖͚̯̮̤̫̿̆͌͋͢͟͡͡ M̶̶҉̳͈̺͟͢͠͠ͅI҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜L̴҉̴͙͖̞̳̜̖ͣͧ̑̑͜͞͠͞͠K҉̿ͭ͘͜I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜N̵҉̾͟͞͡Ṡ̷̢̫̞̻͈͋͛̓̅͜͜͜͠͠͠I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜D҉̣͍̓̎͗͜͜E҉̰̰͎̆͞ A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠ B̵̴҉̞̠̘̩͍̱́͊͗͜͠͠͠͠A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠G̸҉̜̜̱̄ͩ͆͜͝͞ O̷̵҉̢̭͚̜̠ͫͣ͐͢͟͢͠͞͝F̶̵͖͚̯̮̤̫̿̆͌͋͢͟͡͡ M̶̶҉̳͈̺͟͢͠͠ͅI҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜L̴҉̴͙͖̞̳̜̖ͣͧ̑̑͜͞͠͞͠K҉̿ͭ͘͜I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜N̵҉̾͟͞͡Ṡ̷̢̫̞̻͈͋͛̓̅͜͜͜͠͠͠I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜D҉̣͍̓̎͗͜͜E҉̰̰͎̆͞ A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠ B̵̴҉̞̠̘̩͍̱́͊͗͜͠͠͠͠A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠G̸҉̜̜̱̄ͩ͆͜͝͞ O̷̵҉̢̭͚̜̠ͫͣ͐͢͟͢͠͞͝F̶̵͖͚̯̮̤̫̿̆͌͋͢͟͡͡ M̶̶҉̳͈̺͟͢͠͠ͅI҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜L̴҉̴͙͖̞̳̜̖ͣͧ̑̑͜͞͠͞͠K҉̿ͭ͘͜I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜N̵҉̾͟͞͡Ṡ̷̢̫̞̻͈͋͛̓̅͜͜͜͠͠͠I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜D҉̣͍̓̎͗͜͜E҉̰̰͎̆͞ A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠ B̵̴҉̞̠̘̩͍̱́͊͗͜͠͠͠͠A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠G̸҉̜̜̱̄ͩ͆͜͝͞ O̷̵҉̢̭͚̜̠ͫͣ͐͢͟͢͠͞͝F̶̵͖͚̯̮̤̫̿̆͌͋͢͟͡͡ M̶̶҉̳͈̺͟͢͠͠ͅI҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜L̴҉̴͙͖̞̳̜̖ͣͧ̑̑͜͞͠͞͠K҉̿ͭ͘͜I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜N̵҉̾͟͞͡Ṡ̷̢̫̞̻͈͋͛̓̅͜͜͜͠͠͠I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜D҉̣͍̓̎͗͜͜E҉̰̰͎̆͞ A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠ B̵̴҉̞̠̘̩͍̱́͊͗͜͠͠͠͠A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠G̸҉̜̜̱̄ͩ͆͜͝͞ O̷̵҉̢̭͚̜̠ͫͣ͐͢͟͢͠͞͝F̶̵͖͚̯̮̤̫̿̆͌͋͢͟͡͡ M̶̶҉̳͈̺͟͢͠͠ͅI҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜L̴҉̴͙͖̞̳̜̖ͣͧ̑̑͜͞͠͞͠K҉̿ͭ͘͜I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜N̵҉̾͟͞͡Ṡ̷̢̫̞̻͈͋͛̓̅͜͜͜͠͠͠I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜D҉̣͍̓̎͗͜͜E҉̰̰͎̆͞ A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠ B̵̴҉̞̠̘̩͍̱́͊͗͜͠͠͠͠A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠G̸҉̜̜̱̄ͩ͆͜͝͞ O̷̵҉̢̭͚̜̠ͫͣ͐͢͟͢͠͞͝F̶̵͖͚̯̮̤̫̿̆͌͋͢͟͡͡ M̶̶҉̳͈̺͟͢͠͠ͅI҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜L̴҉̴͙͖̞̳̜̖ͣͧ̑̑͜͞͠͞͠K҉̿ͭ͘͜I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜N̵҉̾͟͞͡Ṡ̷̢̫̞̻͈͋͛̓̅͜͜͜͠͠͠I҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜D҉̣͍̓̎͗͜͜E҉̰̰͎̆͞ A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠ B̵̴҉̞̠̘̩͍̱́͊͗͜͠͠͠͠A҉҉̦̣̤͔̟̩̋̿̏ͦ̈́̍͟͠G̸҉̜̜̱̄ͩ͆͜͝͞ O̷̵҉̢̭͚̜̠ͫͣ͐͢͟͢͠͞͝F̶̵͖͚̯̮̤̫̿̆͌͋͢͟͡͡ M̶̶҉̳͈̺͟͢͠͠ͅI҉̡̯̺̜̅́͋̃͢͜L̴҉̴͙͖̞̳̜̖ͣͧ̑̑͜͞͠͞͠K҉̿ͭ͘͜
– Real player with 5.6 hrs in game
okay so basically you buy a bag of milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk milk inside a bag of milk
– Real player with 1.2 hrs in game
Opening Night at the Großen Schauspielhaus - Berlin 1927
Nice experience
– Real player with 0.8 hrs in game
its a short but nice and comfortable experience back to the pre-war berlin. the building and theater was one of the most impressive and innovative in its time. it got revived in this game from old pictures and scratches.
– Real player with 0.7 hrs in game
Stand By Me
made me forget about my problems
– Real player with 10.7 hrs in game
Stand by Me is a gem of a game. It’s fun, challenging, and charming as heck. If you like arcadey games with a great soundtrack and addicting mechanics, do not sleep on this one.
– Real player with 7.3 hrs in game
The Ocean Will Have Us All
The Ocean Will Have Us All is a first person exploration game.
Experience a day in the subatomic life of Moira Leech. Get up, go to work, go home, go back to sleep.
Or.
Go off the the beaten track! Take charge! Stick your finger in an electrical socket!
A neutopian mysterium adventure game from Moloch Media.
-
Meet and interact with the characters that live on your street.
-
Or just ignore them.
-
Go off on tangential subplots.
-
Get in trouble.
-
Listen to dynamic cassette chip music.
-
Look at a high-fidelity fully 3D texture mapped world.
Essays on Empathy
Incredible. I wholeheartedly recommend this release.
If you enjoyed The Red Strings Club, you will definitely love these as well.
They’re so much more than just games (maybe apart from Underground Hangovers, it’s the odd one out), they depict real, relevant issues, the characters feel so genuine and relatable; and the graphics together with the music and the sound design work together perfectly with the narratives.
Quoting the developers in reference to their style in one of the notes, you can expect “thought provoking concepts and stimulating questions and decisions”.
– Real player with 15.6 hrs in game
- Short Review -
Essentially a collection of short stories that cover a wide range of topics.
I will say there are strong themes in most, if not all, of the games present in Essays on Empathy. There are warnings before you play each one so you will not be blindsided. A lot of these games hit close to home, so please play with care.
- Toasty -
11.45 A Vivid Life
Eternal Home Floristry
Behind Every Great One
A Bookshelf Limbo
De Tres al Cuarto
Dear Substance of Kin
Supercontinent Ltd
- Burnt -
– Real player with 12.2 hrs in game