florence
Florence's story is a familiar one, if you like me you've ever wondered what you're doing with your life, then florence will feel close to home. This is a mobile game played out as a love story on your phone: a young woman and a young man meet and do indeed fall in love, but at its heart, it's a story about following your passions and wherever it might take you if you do.
We are introduced to Florence Yeoh, 25, in bed, messy-haired, her alarm blaring. What comes next is a depressingly realistic routine as we learn about Florence's life. She wakes up, brushes her teeth, likes Instagram posts on her commute, matches figures on a spreadsheet, she talks to her mum, has dinner, brushes her teeth again and goes to bed. In the course of her day, you, the player, will have swiped and tapped and dragged your finger across the screen in solidarity with Florence in the world's easiest mini-games that are almost boring. And isn't that the point. You feel what Florence is feeling: the dull, bleary routine of the everyday, even the artwork is grey and desaturated. This chapter is called 'Adult Life'.
florence uses very little text, the story is told to you through image and action. The art style is simply gorgeous, echoing the hand-drawn personal nature of the game. The colours once they appear are bold and bright. You are lead through the story with satisfying arrows to click and comic panels to swipe across, the action shifting to landscape or portrait on your phone depending on which will best tell the story. Florence's facial expressions neatly convey her mood in a few simple lines and carefully animated movements. You are given everything you need.
In an early flashback to Florence at 7-years-old, you glimpse her formative years, you make collages with her, cutting out bright colours and shapes of a boat or a butterfly. She is smiling and happy. Here you discover Florence's true passion, her love of drawing and art. The story takes off from there and over the course of its hour or so runtime (or for me one long tube journey from West Finchley to Shepherd's Bush) you'll meet Krish, a talented cellist and the reason the game insists you wear headphones to play — the score is beautiful. You'll see their lives merge, you'll decide whether to add Krish's vinyl records to your shared bookshelf at the expense of Florence's books, you'll see their hopes and dreams for the future, you'll watch them talk and argue and... I think you know where this is going. You'll see them encourage each other, you'll see them learn, you'll see Florence grow. By the end, you'll be so proud of her because you too have grown alongside her and experienced what she has experienced.
It is here the game really shines and why it feels so fresh. Despite this being a story many of us know, that of young love and your first tentative steps into the adult world — the way the story is told is innovative, and because it is a game, by its very nature, interactive. You aren't just following Florence around, you are Florence, you are her hands and her words, her guiding force. Her story can't progress without you. Interactive narrative or visual novels make you invest in their stories because you act them out alongside the characters. By being passive you hold the story back, a film will play out whether the viewer watches it or not, but a game asks you to participate and so create the story as you play.
florence's narrative is linear, predictable even, but it also feels deeply personal to you as you swipe and tap across your phone screen, leading Florence through her first arguments, her doubts and pushing her towards her dreams. You as the player may not have much choice in where florence's story goes but you are invited instead to become an intimate part of her narrative and that, ultimately, feels all the more special.
florence is out now on iOS and Android