Developer: Extremely OK Games Ltd.
Rrp: £14.99 (Humblebundle and Steam) $19.99 (Itch.io)
This was a game I was very wary of covering, I know its something of an indie darling and that there are fans out there that will defend this game to the hilt (then again it seems that’s the case with every game these days). However I’m happy to say that having played through it I really can understand why it has so much love from the games press.
It’s a very well put together game that doesn’t outstay its welcome and tackles a few issues, some in a more obvious way than others. The main issue that the game discusses is depression, now I know that it seems like every indie game is about depression but this one is different. How so? Because it actually talks about it, and the entire premise of the game, of climbing a mountain is essentially a metaphor for how depression can be. I speak only as an outsider here as I am fortunate enough to not suffer from clinical depression but I do live with someone who has to deal with it and we regularly have conversations on how her mental health is going (checking in so to speak).
Honestly I think this is a game that more people should play, it handles well, is challenging and has a great story that actually has a meaning behind it. To top it all off the accessibility options are great, if you find that the game is too hard you can simply turn on infinite dashing or invulnerability to tailor the game to how you wish to play and it doesn’t punish you for it at all.
