A short, interactive story book, about life and love.

I love Annapurna Interactive - just for ‘What Remains of Edith Finch’ and ‘Gorogoa’ (although I haven’t yet played ‘Kentucky Route Zero’, I’m waiting for full release). Their taste for publishing such specific games is right up my alley. They are pieces of art.

It’s the same thing with Florence. It’s a mobile only game, telling a life story of young Florence. Probably the best description would be “an interactive story book”.

We’re meeting Florence - a 25 year old girl and her “normal” life - waking up, going to work, watching TV. But then something happens - she meets a boy. We’re seeing their relationship going through different steps, showing all different kinds of things - good ones, bad ones, mediocre ones. I think everyone can relate to many of those, which creates a big emotional connection to this short story.

Apart from the story, which isn’t anything spectacular, but it’s created from real life, there’s also gameplay. Maybe gameplay is a bad word here - it is how things fits here. How you interact with the phone, to progress the story. How the simple actions on your phone, can strongly imitate what’s happening in the game, how your limited set of actions can really express current situation. I was really blown away how much creativity and thoughtfulness was put into the execution of this.

I can’t forget about the music - it’s one of the strongest points. Always existing, always fitting perfectly to the situation and leading the whole story (did I mention there is almost no words used in the game?).

So, why am I even talking about this game? A mobile one, 40 minutes short? Because it’s beautiful. Because it shows a lot of craftsmanship and attention to details. Because you can relate and reflect on it. And not because it can make you shed a tear, no sir.

My rating: 8/10
Playtime: 40m
Tags: atmospheric 
Florence on iOS App Store Florence on Google Play