I play and review a lot of indie games.  Before the pandemic, I would go to shows like PAX and E3 and preview a lot of them, but sometimes it would take years before I would actually get a full release date copy to review.  I’ve always wondered what those developers did during that time.  How did they get paid?  Did they have to work on other things to get by?  Why did it take so long to make that game?  If you’ve wondered about those questions, too, then maybe Goodbye World is for you.  In it, you’ll follow the struggles of two just-out-of-college young ladies as they struggle to make an indie game.  And in between story sections, you’ll get to try a snippet of the game they’re working on, a retro black and white handheld platform puzzler.  Goodbye World is available on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.

The game has 13 chapters, and at the beginning of each one you’ll play a level of the game.  It’s a 2-D puzzle platformer called “Blocks” where you can run and jump, and break nearby blocks with a button.  These cracked blocks can be placed elsewhere in the level to give you a stepping stone to reach higher areas and such.  And you can also break placed blocks to use them elsewhere.  Your goal is to find a key in the short levels and then reach a lock, but watch out for enemies and spikes.  If you get hit, you’ll lose a life, and lose all three and it’s Game Over.  Whether you complete the level or get a Game Over, after that you’ll view one of the story scenes.

The story follows two young ladies trying to make an indie game, dealing with part time jobs and each others’ quirks and difficulties.  It’s all just text with graphics with hardly any interactivity.  Only at the very end do you get to move one of the characters around for a bit.  I wish you could do that through the whole game, just to give a little bit of control to the player.  I honestly wish they would’ve ditched the story part and just focused on the actual game.  Maybe included a live video with the actual programmers and artists who helped make it, and their real life struggles.  After you finish all the chapters, you CAN play the whole retro game on its own at least.  I only wish there was a separate jump button in it because I hate pressing up to jump.  The whole thing can be beaten in about an hour, so it’s not a very fulfilling experience overall for the price.

Kid Factor:

Goodbye World is rated E for Everyone with ESRB descriptors of Mild Language and Mild Fantasy Violence.  I didn’t notice any bad language, but in the handheld game your little critter can hit enemies and spikes, but just falls down and looks sad when defeated.  In the last of the story sections, it is implied that one of the programmers committed suicide, and even though at the end they explain they really didn’t do that, it’s still pretty heady stuff.  Because of that and the high level of reading required, this game is best for older players.

Tags: Game Reviews