Playing: Florence
Florence is an Australian interactive story/video game originally released in 2018 for iOS. It was developed by studio Mountains and published by Annapurna Interactive. It has subsequently been made available for both Mac and PC.
Florence has won several awards (including a BAFTA, The Webby Awards, and Freeplay) was noted by Time as one of the best 10 video games of 2018 and currently has a Very Positive rating on Steam.
One of the standout features about the game is the way it tells a story and evokes a range of emotions – without the use or text or narration.
I’ve recently commenced work on an indie game providing advice on narrative design and wanted to revisit Florence with the aim of carefully reviewing its storytelling techniques and game mechanics. This article is a summary of what I learned. Please note that there are spoilers ahead!
Story
As the player-character you explore the life of a 25 year old woman living in Melbourne called Florence Yeoh. The game begins with snippets from her daily life which while not sad, leaves you with feelings of loneliness and despondency. The inciting event (as per the typical 3-act story structure) interrupts this monotonous routine by a meet-cute moment with Kish, a musician and street performer. The game follows the development of their relationship and how this changes Florence over time.
Screenshot from Florence
Visuals
Florence has a beautiful hand illustrated style and features many similarities with storytelling found in graphic novels. From the use of panels, composition and parallax animation to imagery and colours to convey mood and tone. The artists have also skilfully demonstrated emotion and atmosphere through very subtle facial expressions and body language throughout.
Screenshot from Florence
The overall game has a muted colour palette which allows bright colours to emphasise important moments such as the introduction of Kish to exploring Florence’s interest in art during childhood.
Game Mechanic as a Metaphor
The main way that the game successfully tells its story is through game mechanics that achieve two goals
- skilfully intertwines with major plot beats.
- emotionally resonates with the player.
Some other terms or phrases that have been used to describe this technique include ludo-narrative symbolism, procedural rhetoric or embodied metaphor.
Essentially, it’s the use of a game mechanic that allows the player to experience a specific feeling, emotion or situation. As the player-character, we control Florence’s actions throughout the game. So when things happen to her, we feel as though they are happening to us too.
How a recurring mechanic changes over time to evoke different emotional responses
A stand out example is the way conversations are portrayed throughout the game as jigsaw puzzle pieces. In the beginning this starts tentatively and awkwardly – as first time conversations with potential love interests do. This mechanic successfully conveys the feeling of how these conversations play out. Often its not the words themselves that are so important but the tone. It also visually demonstrates the satisfying back and forth of a conversation that goes well and flows naturally.
Screenshot from Florence
Over time, this game mechanic changes to align with the overall story. At one point, Florence and Kish have an argument. Their conversation puzzle pieces becomes more harsh and jagged, until they form singular pieces representing the bluntness of their speech. The back and forth of an argument gets faster and they talk over each other.
Screenshot from Florence
There’s a heartbreaking moment later where you must try to fit the unsaid pieces together. Only to find that you can’t. There is no solution.
Screenshot from Florence
These game mechanics may appear deceptively simple. But they are the result of much behind the scenes work, mapping an overall story, identifying key story beats and aligning these with mini games that evoke the right emotion at just the right time.
Diverse Characters
A shout out to the creators for creating two main characters from diverse backgrounds. I especially like the fact that the game doesn’t make their ethnicity a key story plot point. Instead, aspects of their cultural backgrounds are utilised as character development and world building tools - from the personal items they unpack when they move into together to conversations with Florence’s mother in her native language.
Screenshot from Florence
Summary
Florence is a wonderful example of how a heart-felt and dramatic story can be conveyed without words. And when you think about it, so much of our day-to-day emotional lives are conveyed without words. Perhaps that’s why the game has resonated with so many people who have played the game.