else Heart.Break(): Sandbox, retro and not too much coding

Nikola Adamus

The title of the game, else Heart.Break(), already says that this is a game about coding. Surely it is, but when the actual coding starts, it takes a lot of time and effort to get through the game to the point when we can learn something.

This retro-like sandbox game with beautiful graphics and colors drags us into sad city of Dorisburg full of strange fuse boxes and computer which we don’t know how to use. At the beginning of the game, we might feel lost. They can interact with the game in many ways, but these interactions don’t seem to be meaningful. There is no log of events so we cannot check what we are supposed to do.

The work of camera is probably the worst one I have ever seen. We need to put a lot of effort to learn how to use it properly. Moreover, it is difficult to find objects which we can interact with. Except from little box with a new appearing in strange moments, there’s nothing which helps players to find anything.

When the coding part starts, we might find it too difficult, especially when we don’t know much about programming. Fortunately, there are guides in game who can help us. Although the coding part of the game is quite nice, the rest is rather monotonous. It might seem like an artistic choice, but in my opinion it rather discourages from playing. If yua are really into indie games, you should try else Heart.Break(), but if your primary goal is to learn coding and enjoy plotline, I would suggest choosing something different.

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