The Present is a wonderful and cathartic role-playing experience. The concept is brilliant for a solo play game, while the prompts cover a wide range of relatable childhood experiences that carry into adulthood. The aspect of sharing as the younger self through drawing with the non-dominant hand requires a lot of creativity. It also encourages going on instinct, being honest in the moment. From there, it is easy to get immersed in your past, and reflect on it in the present, and communicate to yourself.
While designed for solo play, the journaling experiences would be fascinating to share with other people.
As an artist, I already feel more introspective than the average person lol. However, I was really excited to make new discoveries and connections in my identity and life story.
The Present is a lovely solo game about supporting your younger self. The compassionate tone in which the text is written helps convey a sense of acceptance and security, which are pivotal when creating a game around such theme. The younger self will express themselves through drawing their answers to prompts while their current self will write about it. This is absolutely brilliant because it not only allows for an interesting dynamic of back-and-forth communication between the two, but also alludes to the fact that kids often express in drawings or through play the things that they don't always know how to put into words. The fact the drawings are meant to be simple and made with the player's non-dominant hand, alludes to a time in our lives when things were simpler but also when we were still learning how to do things that now come so naturally to us. The drawings will be simple and probably wobbly, and that's okay. That in itself offers a valuable underlying lesson in self-acceptance: we were not always perfect then and we are not always perfect now... and that's more than okay. The fact that the player is answering to the drawings with their present-self knowledge allows them to provide their younger self insight and reassurance. The Present is a heart-warming game that absolutely nailed its execution.
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The Present is a wonderful and cathartic role-playing experience. The concept is brilliant for a solo play game, while the prompts cover a wide range of relatable childhood experiences that carry into adulthood. The aspect of sharing as the younger self through drawing with the non-dominant hand requires a lot of creativity. It also encourages going on instinct, being honest in the moment. From there, it is easy to get immersed in your past, and reflect on it in the present, and communicate to yourself.
While designed for solo play, the journaling experiences would be fascinating to share with other people.
As an artist, I already feel more introspective than the average person lol. However, I was really excited to make new discoveries and connections in my identity and life story.
thank you for sharing your experience with the game, Steven!
The Present is a lovely solo game about supporting your younger self. The compassionate tone in which the text is written helps convey a sense of acceptance and security, which are pivotal when creating a game around such theme. The younger self will express themselves through drawing their answers to prompts while their current self will write about it. This is absolutely brilliant because it not only allows for an interesting dynamic of back-and-forth communication between the two, but also alludes to the fact that kids often express in drawings or through play the things that they don't always know how to put into words. The fact the drawings are meant to be simple and made with the player's non-dominant hand, alludes to a time in our lives when things were simpler but also when we were still learning how to do things that now come so naturally to us. The drawings will be simple and probably wobbly, and that's okay. That in itself offers a valuable underlying lesson in self-acceptance: we were not always perfect then and we are not always perfect now... and that's more than okay. The fact that the player is answering to the drawings with their present-self knowledge allows them to provide their younger self insight and reassurance. The Present is a heart-warming game that absolutely nailed its execution.
thank you for this review and your support, Marta!