“The Moon wed Saturn” by Pseudavid.
“The Moon wed Saturn” features a love story by dancing between three different days, which makes it kind of confusing at first. However, you will be able to get the hang of it eventually. And it is worth it, as this game felt real to me. Seeing the ambitions of the main character Veronica clashing with their partner’s, whose name is Araceli, shows a fascinating, human journey. [PLAY]
“Mother Tongue” by Nell Raban.
As a mixed kid (on my mom’s side, just like the main character from “Mother Tongue”), who feels both a connect and disconnect from the culture he is a part of, I strongly felt this game. Being a mixed kid is a strange experience, and I think the game captured that struggle well in a very short amount of time. The mother also reminded me of my own, and how she tried to instill me with a sense of my own culture growing up. Playing it felt nostalgic in ways I do not yet fully understand, though language is not part of my cultural experience. I appreciated the texting format a lot, and loved how fluid and also impactful the experience felt. It was truly fantastically presented. [PLAY]
“Move On” by Serhii Mozhaiskyi.
I did not get this game at first. The concept is sound, but there seemed to be only one path. However, things in “Move On” depend on how far the motorcycle on the top of the screen has gone in the moment you go forward in the story. A quite fascinating idea, which could have been more clearly designed for my taste. [PLAY]
“Passages” by Jared W Cooper.
“You’re the Sapphire to my Ruby.
Any day I wake up to you makes the bad stuff worth it.”
“Passages” is a straightforward experience. There are no choices, just one path as you look through a series of journal entries from the main character. It starts off as a realistic fiction story, but turns into a more fantasy-driven tale, as it is revealed that their partner disappeared in a wormhole. My personal interpretation is that the protagonist is sending those texts into this strange connection between the worlds, and that their partner is reading them. There are quite a lot of journal entries, and you get to see time pass in a very raw way. It is kind of amazing. A story about grief, loss and hoping for a sign. I loved it. It nearly brought me to tears. [PLAY]
