Florence is a cute interactive short story with gaming elements by Melbourne based gaming developer, Mountains Studio. The game was created with inspiration from ‘slice of life’ graphic novels and webcomics.
The storyline focuses on two main characters, Florence and Krish, who met, get to know each other, date and fall in love. They move into together and then disagree.
The characters and scenery are hand drawn and animated. I like the colour palette and designs. The music is lovely and fits perfectly with the scenes.
It’s like reading a cartoon strip, but sometimes you navigate from side to side, and sometimes you navigate from up to down.
The activities are fairly easy to complete. I struggled a little when you needed to get the sliders to line up and create an image in focus (but I didn’t have my glasses on!) The only negative was that there’s no text in the speech bubbles – I wasn’t sure if this was a bug or deliberate, but it forces you to fill in the blanks.
The experience lasts around 30 minutes – it took me two sessions to finish the story.
Florence is a beautiful and enjoyable game, and I’d love to see a follow up with new characters.
Florence won the following Awards:
- Best Mobile Game – The Game Awards 2018
- Mobile Game – 15th BAFTA Games Awards
- Apple Design Award – 2018 Apple
- Portable Game of the Year – 22nd Annual DICE Awards
- Best Debut – Game Developers Choice Awards 2019
- Best Mobile Game – Game Developers Choice Awards 2019
- Best Game Design – 2019 Webby Awards
The Florence Game is available for download via Steam, Mac, iOS App Store, Google Play, Nintendo Switch and GOG. There is a small cost.
https://www.annapurnainteractive.com/games/florence/
About Mountains Studio
Mountains is a craft games studio that make games which linger in the hearts and minds. http://mountains.studio/
About Annapurna Interactive
Established in 2016, Annapurna Interactive works with independent game creators from around the world, helping them create and release personal experiences for everyone. The company is a division of Annapurna Pictures.
Some notable games released by the company include WHAT REMAINS OF EDITH FINCH (2017 BAFTA Best Game), FLORENCE (2018 BAFTA Mobile Game), and OUTER WILDS (2019 BAFTA Best Game). https://annapurnainteractive.com/
Image Credit: © Studio Mountains Pty Ltd. Published by Annapurna Interactive under exclusive license. All rights reserved.
