How to Say Goodbye joins a newly-deceased ghost in a world of lost spirits. By moving the ground, you can help them find what they’re looking for and move on.
This brief experience in grief sees you wandering several worlds with a handful of ghosts. Many of them don’t know where to go or are looking for something, often feeling unsure where they are or why they’re here. If you can pair up with them, you can help guide them to what they need or where they need to go. To do so, you’ll be moving the ground beneath everyone’s feet. This will slide ghosts around to different places, although this often affects multiple things as you move. You’ll need to think about the consequences of each move and how it will affect the environment and position of other ghosts to finish the puzzles. They don’t ever feel like they get frustratingly complex, but you can still put yourself in some annoying positions with careless movements.
As you shuffle through the puzzles, your ghost pals may find what they need and move on to the next life, letting go of whatever holds them here. Moving on requires an emotional journey for these characters, so while you’re figuring out how to deal with unique environmental interactions and how they change up the movement, you’ll also be juggling the run of emotions the ghosts are feel. You’ll also have your own thoughts, as the game starts with an obituary of sorts that you fill in yourself. This can create a whirlwind of different feelings as you deal with internal and external grief while figuring out a puzzle game. It’s chaotic in places, but grief can feel pretty chaotic at times.
How to Say Goodbye carefully balances puzzling gameplay and a touching look at letting go of people we love. Its emotions can feel almost overwhelming when you’re dealing with your own feelings and those of others, but I can’t help but feel that this touches upon those difficult, snarled feelings of grief that come when you share it with others who are also grieving. Except you usually aren’t the dead people. As such, it’s a unique perspective, but still makes for a stirring look at death and what comes after.
How to Say Goodbye is available now on the App Store, Google Play, the Nintendo eShop, and Steam.
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