In Between
By David Chapman,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Puzzling, annoying look at life, loss from one man's eyes.
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What’s It About?
"This is the happy ending of a man who's dying." With that opening line, IN BETWEEN takes players on a trip through the memories of a man coping with the fact that he is in his final days. Players must help the man navigate the labyrinth of his mind, a place where concepts such as "up" and "down" are mere suggestions. Pushing through obstacles, the man will try to carry the weight of his impending fate by overcoming the five stages of grief and loss: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and, finally, acceptance. By reliving the memories of his past, there's hope that the man will understand his purpose in life and discover the legacy he's leaving behind.
Is It Any Good?
This puzzle game attempts to address a number of philosophical questions humans struggle with, but the real problem here is that you spend more time struggling with frustrating gameplay. There are times in life when all of us question why we're here and what's led us to this particular moment. There are also times when we're faced with our own mortality. In Between tries to address these deep emotional and philosophical issues within the framework of a puzzle, as the narrator uses his final days to unlock his memories and overcome the obstacles he has built in his own mind. The style of the game, complete with visuals that look like they've come to life from a hand-painted canvas, combines with the tranquil but somewhat ominous soundtrack to create an eerie feel that lends an extra level of weight to the already heavy subject matter. It's a beautiful, yet haunting, feeling right from the start.
While the style of In Between evokes one set of feelings, the actual gameplay evokes a completely different set of feelings: frustration and irritation. The controls are simple enough to use, moving the character with one hand while controlling the direction of gravity with the other. But using those controls to navigate the puzzles can take superhuman levels of patience. For starters, there's no actual tutorial, even in the "Tutorial" stages. You have to learn everything through trial and error. The slightest misstep and you're forced to reset the stage and start over. The learning curve isn't just steep -- it makes Mt. Everest seem like a stepping stone. In Between is a game that has to be played in smaller doses. Doing any more than that, you can't help but lose sight of the game's overall message and beauty due to simple annoyance with trying to progress to the next stage.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about ways to deal with grief and loss. What are some of the feelings that a person can expect to deal with when facing grief and loss?
Talk about therapeutic outlets for emotions. What are some positive ways to process difficult emotions?
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