About half an hour after I started playing Florence, as the credits rolled up on the screen, I tried very hard to discreetly blink and wipe away the tears, as I was bawling my eyes out, staring at a screen, in the middle of public transport. Dignity, who dis?
Mountains Games’s debut, Florence, gives us a glimpse into the life of 25-year-old Florence Yeoh,
a Chinese-Australian stuck on an ordinary routine we all know too well. Snoozing the alarm until the last minute, scrolling through social media while commuting, doing the same tasks everyday at work, things change for Florence when she meets Krish, an Indian-Australian cellist.
The story evolves as we interact with the narrative
by executing small tasks, such as touching the screen to like the photos of Florence’s friends, brushing her teeth, snoozing her alarm, clicking on dialogue boxes during the phone conversations she has with her mum… Every detail is carefully considered. On Florence’s first date with Krish, for example, we have to complete puzzles to fill up the dialogue boxes – and they get easier as Florence and Krish get more comfortable with one another.
Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
[a ton of spoilers from here on!]
As their relationship progresses, we realise that the game isn’t about a major love story with a big happy ending. It’s an ordinary love story. I say ordinary because, as extraordinary as the game might be, falling in love is wonderful, but learning to be with someone else is also tough and challenging. It’s bittersweet.
There are no Hollywood clichés here, only realness.
This shows, for example, when Krish and Florence move in together – we have to arrange their things, but the space is limited. Should Florence’s old teddy bear go away to make room for Krish’s record player and vinyl collection? We all make small compromises here and there for the sake of our relationships.
Sometimes they work out. Sometimes they don’t.
After a major fight in the groceries store, we see Florence and Krish growing apart. On the game, it gets harder to put the pieces of the puzzles together, as they are constantly drifting away from each other.
Eventually, they break up and Krish moves out. At this moment, I was already sobbing uncontrollably. The game goes on to show Florence going back to her work/sleep/eat routine, and how the gap left by Krish in her life affects her. She misses him.
One day, she finds herself again.
She is reminded of her passion for art, and she dedicates herself to it once again. Krish’s shadow isn’t following her anywhere anymore. *cries harder*
As I said the other day, I recently had to part ways with someone who meant a great deal to me. After that, I found myself back to my study/work/sleep/eat/repeat routine. The more things to do, the less idle moments to miss that person and wonder what would have been.
I didn’t want to get lost in all the what ifs, so I ended up getting lost in a routine I didn’t even want in the first place. I took a little break a couple of days ago, met with some friends (ending my introverting the fuck out phase), rearranged my priorities and schedule, and now I am back, more focused, doing what I want to do, what I love to do.
By Ken Wong, the designer of Monument Valley, Kamina Vincent (The Warlock of Firetop Mountain), Sam Crisp (Movement Study 1) and Tony Coculuzzi (Cuphead),
Florence is about me. About you. About all of us.
Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
It is a gentle reminder that we can find ourselves again when we cut out (what feels like) a piece of us from our lives. A reminder that our passions will always be inside us somewhere, no matter how buried they might get with routines we fall into in order to not think much, not feel much.
I am in complete awe with the art, the music and the narrative of this game. There are no dialogues, no written texts (aside from Florence’s conversations with her mum), and yet it is SO INTENSE.
Not to mention the fact that Florence being Chinese-Australian and having conversations with her naggy mum in Mandarin made me feel even closer to the story. A big thank you to everyone at Mountains, for this wonderful experience, from a little Taiwanese-Brazilian human.
As of this moment, Florence is only available for iOS devices (download here). Its Android version will soon be released.
Would you play Florence? Have you played it?
Lemme know what you think of it in the comments below or by tweeting me @tweetsbysofi.