Game: Letters – a written adventure
Genre: Puzzle, Platformer, Adventure
System: Nintendo Switch (also on Steam, (Windows, macOS)
Developers | Publishers: 5AM Games | PID Games
Age Rating: US T | EU 12+
Price: US $14.99 | UK £13.49 | EU 14,99
Release Date: February 9th, 2022
Review code used, with many thanks to PID Games.
After a successful campaign on Kickstarter a couple of years ago, Letters – a written adventure a 2D epistolary adventure game is released on Steam and Nintendo Switch.
Coming-of-age Story
Take a step back to the 90s and 2000s for a coming-of-age story about a shy girl named Sarah who lives in Switzerland. Sarah loves to write her Russian pen-pal Katya handwritten letters or chat with her on the computer as the world goes digital as Sarah grows older.
Sarah has a passion for drawing, comics, and video games. The story is based around the ups and downs of Sarah’s life as she navigates growing up while figuring out who she is, what she wants, and how to follow her dreams.
Unique Puzzle Game
Letters a is a unique puzzle game that uses words to move the story forward. You control the tiny character of Sarah as she moves between words on the page or the computer screen. Jumping between the lines of the page in platform game style, you can choose words from the text and move them to complete sentences and advance the storyline. With the press of a button, you can make Sarah kick a word to highlight it and pick the word up and carry it.
You can also use words to make an item or character on the page affect their action. Such as throwing the word “close” against an open drawer that’s blocking Sarah’s progress down the page. On each page of the game, the main goal is to find the right words to move the story along.
Storyline
I don’t want to go into too much detail about the storyline as I don’t want to spoil it. However, Sarah’s story is one we will all recognise having been teenagers ourselves; granted that may have been a long time ago for some of us, I can still vaguely remember being a teenager.
It’s a story of teenage angst about her future, her parent’s relationship, Sarah’s relationship with her sister, and her friend Lia. You also get a chance to choose a boyfriend or girlfriend for Sarah, so the story includes Sarah’s fledgling relationship with him or her. At times the storyline darkens and turns quite sad, and at other times it is fun and silly, much like real life.
Visuals
The game’s visuals are lovely, with hand-drawn and pixel art throughout, evolving with Sarah’s age. When you first start playing the game, Sarah is a tiny sprite on the screen, but as the story moves through the years, so does Sarah, and you see her grow in stature before your eyes. I like that it’s a nice touch added by the developers.
The music is suitable for the storyline; it gets louder and brash if Sarah is unhappy or angry, and it fits very well with the gameplay.
Conclusion
Letters – a written adventure is a very enjoyable heartwarming game with a relatable coming of age story. I found the story held my attention right up till the end of the game. The use of words in the game is well implemented, focusing on narration and having fun with words with a little word puzzling thrown in for good measure.
Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up 