3 games that shaped Wednesdays
While waiting for Wednesdays’ release, today I will talk about some other video games. Games that have been important to me and without which Wednesdays probably wouldn’t have been the same, if it would have existed at all!
There is -that- game, of course, and if you read our previous newsletters, you probably know which one I’m talking about, but I don’t want to talk about that one, which, honestly, could have been any other one. I want to talk about the games who shaped Wednesdays through their design, their writing, their heart, and helped convince me such a venture was possible.
If Found..., DREAMFEEL
The most obvious video game influence for Wednesdays probably is If Found...
It has hand drawn art, just like Wednesdays.
Soft pastel colors, just like Wednesdays.
It tries to capture a “paper” feel, leaning closer to a graphic novel than a video game, just like Wednesdays.
It uses the simplest mechanics in order to be playable by anyone, just like Wednesdays.
It tells an intimate story about hardships, family and friendship, just like Wednesdays.
It wants to make you smile, but might also make you cry, just like Wednesdays.
If Found... tells the story of Kasio, an Irish student coming back to her hometown and estranged family. She will make new friends, face new challenges, and write everything down in her diary. A diary we are tasked to erase.
To this day, If Found… remains one of my favorite games of all time and I can only wholeheartedly recommend it.
Cibele, Star Maid Games
I’m in awe of Nina Freeman’s entire body of work. How do you do it made me giggle while unearthing old and awkward memories, Lost Memories Dot Net made me relive the old internet days when a comment on your blog was all you were living for and Beach Date reminded me what it’s like to fall in love. But when it comes to Wednesdays, her most influential game is Cibele.
While not the first autobiographical commercial game (Papo & Yo, Depression Quest…), Cibele might have been the first to do it so openly, to dive that deep into the creator’s intimacy, quite literally.
In Cibele, you play 19 year old Nina meeting a young man while playing an online multiplayer game and getting more and more intimate as the weeks go by. While half of the game consists of chatting with him, through instant messaging, phone calls or video calls, the other half consist of actually playing Valtameri, the online multiplayer game, and doing quests together.
Wednesdays too relies on a game within the game to unfold its story. A game that you may play with mindlessly in order to release the tension.
Cibele might feel a bit short and has some rough edges but it’s also a game that will probably feel like no other game you’ve played before and that should be a good enough reason to try it.
He Fucked The Girl Out Of Me, Taylor McCue
Writing and designing a game dealing with child sexual abuse might sound like a challenge, but what about a game dealing with trauma, sex work, date rape, transphobia and suicide idealization?
He Fucked The Girl Out Of Me is dark, raw, and quite difficult to play despite its harmless Game Boy graphics. But it’s also very real, and proof one can deal with heavy topics through the video game medium. Even though I didn’t really need that proof, this game came out when Wednesday began to take shape in my head and it would be foolish of me to believe it did not influence me one way or another.
He Fucked The Girl Out Of Me also made me discover GB Studio, which I used to make my own game boy game Pocket Puppet, so I guess I owe it not only one but two of my games!
If you have one hour to spend and aren’t in a bad place right now, you should definitely try He Fucked The Girl Out Of Me.
And if Wednesdays is all you care about, I should remind you the demo is still available on itch.io, and you can still wishlish the game on Steam
Have a nice playful day!