If Found…, by developer DREAMFEEL and publisher Annapurna Interactive, is a moving coming out story about a trans-individual and connection told through an interactive novel. Throughout the story, Kasio returns to her home in Western Ireland, comes out to her parents, and faces many trials and tribulations that come with that. She is met with opposition in many parts of her journey. This game is a highly creative way of telling Kasio’s story, and it has many other valuable lessons including family not necessarily being blood, acceptance, understanding without judgement, unconditional love, and friendship.
The novel begins with an astronaut falling through a black hole, trying desperately to get help as the “Big Event” approaches the horizon; the novel keeps going back to that aspect of the story every now and again, with a smaller countdown each time. The graphics in If Found… are incredible, with vibrant colors, beautiful artwork, and realistic sketches and handwriting on Kasio’s diary (which she slowly destroys through erasure). I almost didn’t want to erase some of the scenes because of how well they were drawn, but I would never have gotten to progress through the interactive novel if I had done that.
As you play the game, you are given an eraser to erase from scene to scene, wiping away memories and moments that Kasio wants to forget. Along the journey, the eraser shrinks more and more until the end of the journey for Kasio accepting herself as she is, without fear of anyone else’s judgement. Once the eraser is gone, it is replaced with a pencil, rewriting Kasio’s life with new memories, and creating a clean slate and rebuilding her life, including only those that she wishes to be a part of it. Every time that Kasio got upset or experienced moments where she felt that she didn’t fit in, the music would get louder and more obnoxious as if they were crowding her head and the player was inside of her head with her.
The only way to quiet the scene back down again is to erase that scene and move onto the next, either by talking to one of her friends, or by leaving her alone. The people in her life who couldn’t accept her to begin with, eventually came around and are written into her new story as well.
This interactive novel is a very inspirational expression for the LGBTQ community, or anyone who is struggling with becoming their true self. Rewrite your own story how you want it to be written. Nobody should get to decide how you live your life but you, and you alone. I played through almost this entire game in one sitting; I wanted to know what would happen next along Kasio’s journey, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much real emotion went into making this, I felt like I was right there beside her the whole time. If Found… definitely deserves high praise and I’m giving it a 9 out of 10 rating.
Check Out the If Found… Trailer:
If Found… is available for iOS on the App Store for $4.99, as well as PC and Mac via Steam for $12.99.
For more information, please visit: http://dreamfeel.org/iffound
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Steam Review
I am an army veteran and currently a sophomore at Portland State University majoring in English. I have always looked to gaming as an outlet outside of my everyday life and a way to experiment with playing different types of games and take on new and exciting characters with different backgrounds. It's kind of like getting to become a new person every time you play a game.
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