This coming-of-age adventure game made me feel a little too seen

"There's a lot about Perfect Tides: Station to Station 's Mara that I find relatable. Like me, she's recently moved to a place simply called "the City" from the middle of nowhere, and like me, she's an avid writer. But these biographical details aren't the important thing; it's the way she's painted by the game's incredibly sharp writing where I start to feel uncomfortably seen."

"The point-and-click game is minimalist in its mechanics. Consisting mostly of conversations, it's broken up by a few puzzles, object interactions, and minigames. This is not a complaint: it's in talking to people that the game shines, because it's how we get to see most of Mara. And she's such a realized and resonant portrait of a person that I found myself grasping at where we were different as a coping mechanism against spending the whole time introspecting."

Mara recently moved to a place called the City from the middle of nowhere and is an avid writer. Sharp writing renders Mara with piercing specificity that makes her feel uncomfortably seen. The point-and-click game uses minimalist mechanics and consists mostly of conversations, with a few puzzles, object interactions, and minigames. The game shines in dialogue, which reveals Mara's personality and prompts introspection. Mara emerges as a realized and resonant portrait of a person. Her relationship with a controlling, older, long-distance partner is depicted with narrative and mechanical thoughtfulness. In one conversation, a health bar suddenly appears.

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