Have you ever been in a long-distance relationship? Or maybe you’re currently in one and having trouble navigating emotions? A Fold Apart is a puzzle game about just that: navigating the emotional roller coaster of a couple living apart. Lightning Rod Games has made a game that accurately explores the inner thoughts and feelings of a person in a long-distance relationship while having decently challenging puzzles. If you’ve never been in a long-distance relationship and wonder what it’s like, you should give A Fold Apart a try. Come along on our A Fold Apart Review.
Folding the Brain
As I stated before this is a puzzle game about a long-distance relationship. The first stand-out moment for me was that the character genders were mine to choose. I understood that it allowed for players to experience and possibly connect to the story on a deeper level than if the genders were static. I like this feature a lot since I could model the experience in a way that’s similar to the relationship I am in.
Going into A Fold Apart, I knew what to expect story-wise. I’ve lived the story being in a long-distance relationship. What I did not expect was for how challenging the puzzles would be for me. For the first two chapters of the game, every puzzle felt easy and very much like I was still in the tutorial. In those first two chapters every time the characters got into puzzles I was still being taught the different ways to solve a puzzle with on-screen prompts. In chapter three I had to put all the techniques to use without tutorial prompts popping up. That was when I felt challenged in the puzzles.
Some of the puzzles kept me there for a while. I had to figure out how far to fold the page and whether I should fold from the top, bottom, or sides. Sometimes I even had to start with flipping the page and starting from the back. The puzzles got gradually more complex and I really liked that. As I said before, the story I expected because I lived it.
The developers, Lightning Rod Games, really captured the experience being far away from the one you love. I loved the way it showed how words or the way they are phrased can affect a person’s mind. When that happens to the characters in the game that is when puzzles usually occur. The puzzles being symbolic of working through those emotions to arrive at a conclusion of understanding.
Puzzling scape of the Mind
I’m happy to state that I did not experience any bugs through my playthrough. I had no crashes, no glitches, nothing of that sort. Whereas the graphics are vibrant and beautiful, I noticed the puzzles usually happened when the characters got anxious or depressed working towards happiness. In a long-distance relationship, those feelings are more prevalent but I would have loved to see some happy puzzles too. Maybe some puzzles that start from happy and go to feelings of depression or just flat out plain happy feeling ones.
Folding for All
A Fold Apart is a charming, beautiful game that tells the story of loving over a distance. This story will not be for all. If you have been in a relationship like that or are in one, this game is going to hit on many different notes than for those who have not. Some people may even find the puzzles too easy, not me. A Fold Apart tells a great story in a unique way with folding puzzles and I loved that. If you are into charming stories of love and puzzle games you’ll probably want to give this a try.
A Fold Apart is out now on all major platforms for $19.99.
