Emily is Away <3

Travel back to a simpler with Emily is Away <3, a text-based adventure that also doubles as a love letter for the early days of social media. This heartbreaking story features some of those cringy moments we’ve all experienced growing up and portrays them in a painfully realistic way.

It seems that in the modern days of games, even indie ones, there’s little to no place for text-based adventures. However, Kyle Seeley, Emily’s developer, has taken this as a challenge. His undeniable writing skills have proved that he can craft a gutting story using a simple text interface, and this seems to be his most impressive adventure yet.

All hail Facenook

The year is 2008. AIM servers are slowly beginning to die, and young people are flocking towards a new online communication era. As social media becomes increasingly common, a new site emerges to rule them all: Facebook. Or, in the case of Emily is Away <3, Facenook.

While the previous Emily is Away games focused more on online chat clients, this game expands upon that idea with new social media components. Players will build their relationships with other characters through small interactions like posting status updates, sharing videos, and even engaging in poke wars.

These mechanics, coupled with a touching coming-of-age story, turn Emily is Away <3 into a beautiful window into a bygone era of the internet. Anyone who was there for the first years of Facebook will surely remember engaging in situations like the ones seen in this game, for better or for worse.

Who is Emily?

Sure, this might be the third title in the Emily series, but the games tell completely separate stories. If you were not a fan of the downer ending of the first Emily is Away, then you’ll be pleased to hear that there are even more possible endings this time around. Some of them can even be considered completely “happy” endings.

Of course, if there’s one thing that Kyle Seeley seems to have completely mastered is how to tell a good story. Modern text-based adventures, like A Dark Room, are nothing without a solid plot, and Emily is Away <3 offers that in spades.

Considering Seeley’s track record, we can expect the story here to be as human as possible. All the ups and downs of young love are explored in these games, sometimes with painful detail. The immensely relatable subject will certainly help players immerse even more in the fascinating world of Emily.

Complex yet simple

The jump from online chat clients to the advent of social media means that Emily is Away <3 is also the most visually complex game Seeley has worked on. The detailed recreation of the early days of Facebook looks nearly identical to the real thing.

The sheer amount of new options turn this game into almost an RPG of sorts. Having to manage so many aspects of social life could easily help this game transition from being merely a text-based adventure into a full-fledged life simulation game. And for one, unlike other games that promise the same, choices do matter.

Pros:

• Immersing story
• Well-written characters
• Faithful portrayal of the early days of Facebook

Cons:

• The story can get a bit too heavy in parts