Photographs (video game)

Last updated
Photographs
Photographs video game logo.png
Developer(s) EightyEightGames
Publisher(s) EightyEightGames
Designer(s) Luca Redwood
Artist(s) Octavi Navarro
Composer(s) Ben Prunty
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
ReleaseWindows, iOS
April 3, 2019
macOS, Linux, Android
2019
Genre(s) Puzzle game
Mode(s)Single-player

Photographs is a puzzle game by British developer Luca Redwood under EightyEightGames, released for iOS and Microsoft Windows devices in April 2019.

Contents

Gameplay

Photographs is composed of five narrative-driven stories that each involve a decision that the story's lead character comes to regret. Each story iterates between two phases: first, focusing a virtual camera viewfinder on the object in the given scene that matches a text description, and then once located, performing a mini-game with rules that are unique to each story. After completing the mini-game, additional story elements are given via way of photographs and changing scene elements before the player seeks out the next photo to locate. Once they reach the end of the story, they may then start on another character's story; the first time through the game, the player must complete the characters in a specific order, but afterwards can revisit any character's story. Each story's puzzle elements do change along with the story, reflecting the difficulty of the lead character of the story; for example in the Alchemist, the player has to figure out how to simultaneously move figures representing the grandfather and his granddaughter around the board, but as she becomes ill within the narrative, her movement becomes much more limited in the puzzle. [1] [2]

Once the player has completed all five stories, the five characters that made hard decisions pleads to a mirror, which shows the player via the device's camera or webcam, each begging to be allowed to go back in time to change their decision. The player is given two of the characters and must decide which one they feel deserves a second chance. After several of these questions, one character will have been chosen by the player the most frequently, and the game's credits are shown alongside the narrative of the character if they had made a different decision.

One of "The Alchemist" puzzle games, requiring the player to slide both the grandfather and granddaughter into their specific slots while avoiding obstacles Photographs video game puzzle.png
One of "The Alchemist" puzzle games, requiring the player to slide both the grandfather and granddaughter into their specific slots while avoiding obstacles

Development

Photographs is the third game by Luca Redwood, following 10000000 and You Must Build a Boat . Music for the game was composed by Ben Prunty, while Redwood outsourced the pixel-style art to Octavi Navarro who had previously worked on Thimbleweed Park . [3] [4]

Redwood announced Photographs in December 2017, [4] and the game was formally released for iOS and Windows on April 3, 2019, with plans for a macOS, Linux, and Android version to soon follow.

Reception

Awards

The game was nominated for "Best Mobile Game" at the Develop:Star Awards, [5] and for "Game, Puzzle" at the NAVGTR Awards. [6]

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References

  1. Webster, Andrew (April 7, 2019). "Photographs is a tragic short story collection in the form of a puzzle game". The Verge.
  2. Ramos, Jeff (April 8, 2019). "Puzzle game Photographs tells surprisingly poignant human stories". Polygon.
  3. Rosenberg, Adam (10 April 2019). "'Photographs' is a game about tragedy, heartbreak, and the choices we can't undo". Mashable.
  4. 1 2 "'Photographs' dark narrative masquerades as a mobile puzzle game". Engadget. 14 December 2017.
  5. Blake, Vikki (May 16, 2019). "Shortlist for Develop:Star Awards 2019 revealed". MCV.
  6. "2019 Nominees | NAVGTR".