Why I made it

I had a few friends who told me about their experience going through divorce and I wanted to capture those stories. I also wanted to create a very abstract game, where the meaning was unclear and open to interpretation. Last, I wanted to make a game with no cut-scenes, yet layers of theme, characters and hidden messages.

Themes

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Horror

Although the genre is officially “walking simulator”, it’s really closer to a horror game. The game toys with the player’s expectation to keep them on edge. For instance, in the mountain scene, the ambient music is a track that would normally get used in a set in the depths of outer space. It’s a platformer, but uses gritty, realistic aesthetics. You assume everyone except you in gone, until you see a dog. Dog are supposed to be friendly, but this one attacks you.

Unreliable narrator

Towards the middle of the story, the narrator begins to tell you contradicting stories. This is where you get to question the main premise: did everyone mysteriously vanish on July 2nd, or was it in the protagonists’ head.

The stories we tell ourselves

I’ve always been fascinated with people’s ability to rationalize away even the most traumatic incidents in their lives. For instance, Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones commits countless atrocities, but she justifies all of it because she tells herself she is doing it for her children.

What does it mean?

Did everyone vanish on July 2nd?

Did everyone on earth really vanish?Or did you just run away from your family to a remote part of the world that happens to have no one living there? The game never answers that question one way or the other. That’s the point.

Is the ending depressing or uplifting?

Some players thought the game was about Nihilism. Others took away a positive message. That there is meaning, and you get to create that meaning for yourself. Everyone has a metaphorical “mountain” to climb and you get to decide what that is. But the game never makes a statement one way or the other. I’ve found the meaning of the game tends to reflect the player’s personal outlook on life.

The final twist

There is one final twist, perhaps the biggest twist of all, that not many people noticed. I won’t reveal it here, you’ll just have to play the game!