Gamer's Outpost LLC

by Colin Campbell

This game is about real life. The main protagonist is you.

Called Reflections, the game is still in Greenlight mode on Steam. Even if the set-up sounds a little unusual, the game does look pretty interesting.

It’s another one of those walkabout games in which you explore your surroundings, pick up stuff, make decisions and move the story forward. You begin the game packing up your things to head out to college. The player explores and interacts. The story reacts to how the player moves objects around.

Developer Tristan Moore of Broken Window Studios explained to Polygon what else happens. “Interactions are all based around manipulating physics-driven objects, but we’re pushing hard to make each of these interactions meaningful,” he said. “You can do things like exploring your home, making repairs, cultivating the relationship with your friends and family, exploring your neighborhood or even just play games like basketball.”

As you complete interactions, objects become flushed with color. The player’s view of the world gradually changes from monochrome to vivid color.

Reflections was originally built at a game jam at around the time Moore was graduating from college. He wanted to try to make a game that spoke about real life, but decided to focus on other stuff, like open-world horror title Grave.

“Since then, a few games have come out with interesting experiences that were just about normal people,” he explains, referring to the likes of Gone Home and even more fantastical fare like Dear Esther and The Stanley Parable. “The value of that type of experience has been proven. Not every game has to be about action, combat or puzzles.”

So, why make a game about people pretty much being themselves? “We’re really pushing the idea that the you are ‘you’ in the game, so the elements of the story are designed to be general. We are setting up a couple of questions for you to answer at the start which may change some of the outcomes and characters. We want to leave the character of ‘you’ pretty open, so it’s more defined by your actions than a predetermined context.”

Reflections, due out in April, asks the question: “Where will your life take you?” If you’re interested, over to the Steam Greenlight page would be a good start.