How to Say Goodbye

+ Unique art style and concept + Interesting puzzles - Dialogue is a bit childish for the subject matter? Maybe there's something lost in translation, but the lexicon level is like 2nd grade. The conversations between characters could be more meaningful.

Neat little puzzle game that also incorporates themes of loss and acceptance of death. I found it did a really good job of incorporating the story subtly and letting the gameplay shine along with it. The puzzles are essentially kind of like a sliding block puzzles (but way more enjoyable), but with some slight complexities due to the way the grid can create loops on itself. The game also is really good at adding elements in over time kind of like how Portal does it, so the puzzles feel quite varied the whole runtime. There were some levels that felt a bit more open which was neat and unexpected too. Not the hardest puzzle game out there, but really satisfying to solve and mostly doesn't have any tedious aspects to it. The game was clearly built with mobile touch controls in mind. Translating this to mouse is pretty obvious although I felt that it was a bit slow dragging around the tiles with a mouse. I ended up using a controller and that worked surprisingly well due to the grid setup and being able to quickly skip to character or important items using triggers. Touch controls would probably be best, but it was still good. As I already said, I found the story well executed since it's experienced rather then told to you directly. The characters you meet are simple, but likeable and their feelings and what happens to them makes complete sense. There's also a short little side story which was also great and worth playing too.

Great puzzle game, made me sad within the first 30 minutes, but in a good way! Emotional/10.

in some moments my brain hurt as hell, except for that very nice game

Such a sweet game. Someone mentioned that the language used in the story made it sound childish, but to me that's a plus. It made it feel like a story book I might have read as a child, which gave the game a soft sort of comfort to buffer the theme it was working with. I definitely think the story hits harder the closer you are personally to themes of death and grief. I myself am at an age where I have experienced the loss of family and friends many times; there is no one way to grieve, no right or wrong way, no set time to the process. It simply happens, eventually, to all of us. I feel that message is beautifully portrayed here.

The artwork, story, colour, environment- they are all beautiful. The puzzles are intuitive and with difficulties that felt just right. The playthrough was fun and at the same time really calming- I think the idea of afterlife is well-presented with different souls and journeys, in a way that brings you some sort of closure if you have lost a loved one. p/s: hoping for more additional stories!

"How to Say Goodbye" is a story about accepting grief rather than trying in vain to "fix" it, accompanied by gameplay of sliding entire lines and columns of a grid around to get some ghosts to their destinations. The central figure in this tale is not actually the player, but Tove, whose encounters with others that help them move on is mainly an accidental byproduct of her own quest for closure. The artstyle is simple yet vibrant, which is good for identifying the key elements in each puzzle; the store page states it's inspired by classic children's books, and I certainly noticed the Goodnight Moon inspiration for one chapter. I personally think that difficulty of the puzzles isn't too challenging; more elements are introduced as progress is made, like buttons that must be stood on or wires that must be connected, but the main challenge throughout is simply not accidentally breaking up something you've already aligned while sliding something else on a grid to its destination. I'm not sure if the default price is a good one considering that ease of solving puzzles, but as of the time of this review, it sometimes drops down to a much more affordable 75% discount. Overall, I enjoyed the experience, and I'm satisfied saying goodbye to it now that I've reached its end.