Essays on Empathy

Today we are taking a look at Essays on Empathy which is a collection of games from Deconstructeam. Actually, this is offering you 10 very interesting and unique story-driven games. One of which is brand new to this collection. The other 9 are some of their past hits that have been available for a while now. Having these all-in-one collection though is great. Even if you come here just for their new game, you will probably end up playing the others, even if you have played them before.

10 Slices Of Life

Even though some of the stories are really out there in Essays on Empathy. I do feel that at their core, each one of these games has some kind of relatable life lesson/commentary going on. Some of these can be very humorous and others can be series dealing with some issues such as domestic violence, suicide, and so on. No matter what one of the 10 games you are playing I feel that you are always pulled in by the writing. These are short games and I found that when I beat one of them, I right away wanted to talk about what I experienced with someone else.

Same Style, Different Words

One thing that you do notice about Essays on Empathy is that all of the games have that same style in terms of their visuals. While the style is the same, the subject matter of the story has let the developers get very creative and no two games look exactly the same. One will have an almost dark, dungeon almost fantasy kind of look, another is cyberpunk, one takes place in a house, and so on. Each game has a great soundtrack. Seriously, the soundtrack they have here is so great in that each selected song fits with the selected game perfectly. It is the kind of thing that is hard to explain, but when you play the game, you will know what I am talking about.

The Perfect 10

Ok, so I am clearly not going to talk about all ten games that are featured in Essays on Empathy, but I do want to touch on a few that really stuck with me. First of all, we have the new game which is called, De Tres Al Cuarto which is a kind of deckbuilding game about two comedians trying to make it. This is a lot of fun and also has a bit of a deep thing going on where it deals with trying to make your dreams happen. Underground Hangover is a Metroidvania style of game where you are trapped underground and need to get out and find out what really happened.

Behind Every Great One was probably the game that stuck with me the most. This is about a wife standing by her husband who is not exactly the nicest guy around. This is just a small taste of the ten games that are featured here. Each one not only has a different story, but they also play differently too.

Pros:

• You are getting 10 games in this package
• There is a brand-new game
• Each game has a witty story
• I loved the variety each game offered

Cons:

• Visually each game has the same kind of style
• The games may be a bit too short for some people