A Fold Apart is a brand new love story presented in the form of a puzzle game y Lightning Rod Games. The game is essentially a virtual representation of how people living in long-distance relationships try their best to survive and overcome all the challenges that arise in their relationships. The game features truly unique gameplay as you fold pages to solve puzzles and move ahead in the game. This is our review of the PC version of A Fold Apart in which we fold some papers and try our best to make our long-distance relationship work.
In A Fold Apart, you live the story of a long-distance relationship between a Teacher and an Architect. After living together for a long time, the Architect moves to a new city to pursue a really good opportunity while the Teacher remains back as she loves her job and her students. Things start off normal however as time passes by, both of them begin to miss each other more and more and thus begins an emotional rollercoaster where each of the characters tries their best to make their relationship work no matter what the cost.
A Fold Apart is essentially a puzzle game and a very different one as well. The game is set in the daily routines of both the Teacher and the Architect as they go about completing tasks and trying to fit in time for their significant other in between. Their communication takes place via text messages and, as we all know text messages are not the most effective way of communication, they end up making our in-game characters doubtful of themselves and their partner. The worlds we explore are made in paper and all of the puzzles that we solve in the game are also made up of paper and we fold the paper from the sides or the top and bottom to progress in levels.
The levels are really beautiful to look at. Normally, we would be roaming around in parks or rooms speaking with our significant other but every now and then, a particular text would make our character sad and an emotional rollercoaster will ensue. Whenever this happens, the world becomes darker, the paths lost and nothing seems certain. At this time, it is us to guide our cute little couple out of the dark thoughts and back to the bright and colorful world by folding the world around them, dodging blockades and opening up new paths by aligning different folds in the paper.
The puzzles start off really simple and easy however as you progress in the game, they become tougher and more complicated however the game is made to make it good challenging and not bad challenging. If you are unable to solve a puzzle and find yourself stuck, you can simply ask for help and the game will show you a hint on what to do next and you can quickly get back in the cute little love story. Once you are out of the current dilemma, you will arrive back in the colorful world and continue texting with your loved one unless another text triggers a doubt or you see something that gives you a fresh wave of depression because of you missing your loved one and a brand new puzzle sequence begins.
The game pretty much continuous like this until you move on to the next chapter. A Fold Apart offers the experiences of both sides of the story meaning that you play as both the Teacher and the Architect. During the story, it does not change very long before doubts and depression kick in and you are down again. The character design is excellent and the facial expressions are on point. You can quickly see whether your character is happy or they are sad. The animations are great as well making the transitions of pages, folding paper here and there pretty smooth. There are no harsh transitions in the gameplay and even with new sections popping in and out again and again, there are no glitches or statues in the game. Even the scenery changes with the mood are pretty smooth.
A Fold Apart is a truly unique game. I was amazed as to how closely it represented the real-life relationships of people who are living far from each other and are limited to text messages or phone calls. During their conversations, each and every dialogue is very important in such relationships because a single word can cause your partner to blame themselves for being selfish or they might start doubting you that you are being selfish. This is portrayed extremely accurately in the game and this is one of the best aspects of the game. It is a very touching experience especially if you’ve been in such a scenario.
The main story of the game will take around 7, 8 hours of your time to complete depending on how good your puzzle-solving skills are. Some puzzles are really straightforward while some puzzles will take quite a decent amount of time as you try to figure out by folding the paper or turning it around. Some later puzzles also involve new mechanics which are not too complicated to understand but play an important role in solving puzzles. These include mechanics like pushing boxes, climbing on steps or even folding the paper so that your character falls to the other side safely.
Final Verdict:
Long distance relationships are not easy for anyone and A Fold Apart visualizes how every couple in a long distance relationship feels like. Every doubt followed by a hope which becomes overshadowed by yet another doubt and how it becomes a constant struggle for both members involved in such a relationship is demonstrated in A Fold Apart very accurately. Its brilliant art style and how it is executed in papers which also symbolizes the old form of communication, letters, which was a common means of communication between people in long distance relationship in past times. Every puzzle in A Fold Apart begins with a doubt but you finally manage to get rid of it with a bright thought. It is exactly about the challenges that real people have when it comes to choosing between their love life and professional life when one of the members has to go away in pursuit of their passion. This is the crux of A Fold Apart and I really loved this little game. The puzzles are brilliantly designed and the folding and unfolding bit make them really good. I will highly recommend this brilliant experience to everyone.
Final Score: 9.8/10
