As always, the less you know about this incredible game the better, but here is the set up: you play as Edith Finch, a 17-year old girl visiting her childhood home to reconnect with her family’s past and uncover the stories her mom tried so hard to keep away from her. She also narrates the story, and the words she says appear and disappear into your environment as you walk through them. There’s not too much here in regards to gameplay or difficulty: you walk, explore, and interact with elements of the environment on the way to uncover the truths and fantasies littered around the house. the house itself is a wonder of secret passageways, hidden doors, underground tunnels, and areas that shouldn’t connect to others. From afar it feels like if you poke it from the side the whole thing will tumble down. Like it shouldn’t even be still standing.

The catch is that as soon as you discover a family members story, the game transports you to their time and you get to play as them in their final moments.. Each story blends fantasy and reality. Each story is strange and poetic and sometimes horrifying. Each story ends in tragedy. Each of these segments offer the player a different set of controls and actions they need to perform; they’re all simple but the game never explicitly tells you what you have to do when you play these stories. You have to figure it out for yourself.

I’ve never quite played a game like this and I think it’s a really special example of the power that the interactive medium can have that no other medium can replicate. This wouldn’t quite work as a movie or a short story. In many ways it feels like playing through a pop-up book come to life, but giving you the point of view and attachment to Edith allows you a way to connect with her and her family in a profoundly moving way. It’s a heavy game that while not outright scary or visually upsetting, can be emotionally tough to get through. But I think the rewards at the end of the journey are so huge that it more than makes up for it. It has a lot to say about the stories we tell ourselves and how important but dangerous they can be.

This game will take you around 2 hours to complete and I paid $5 for it when it was on sale. Highly recommend