She Could Fly: Documentary Escape Game Review

Developer: Wowbagger Productions

Platforms: Mac, PC (Reviewed)

Genre: Adventure

Publisher: Wowbagger Productions

She Could Fly is a digital documentary escape game. This game was developed and published by Wowbagger Productions. This game is very unique in relation to other point-and-click games because of its documentary aspect. This review was done on Windows, but the game is also available for macOS.

A graphic novel, “She Could Fly”, written by Christopher Cantwell with artist Martin Morazzo with colour by Miroslav Mrva.The graphic novel is published by Dark Horse Comics and Berger Books. It has been turned into a documentary escape game where it delves into the world of mental illness through the lens of a young girl who has obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The young woman is amazed by a mysterious flying woman and gets fixated on her disappearance. The main menu of the game has a welcome section where it introduces videos of the developing team that talks about how this comic is inspired by Chris, who has the exact form of OCD that his character Luna has. In addition to this, the start of the game provides a disclaimer that the game has emotional sequences and that you can seek help or look up more information on OCD.

The premise of the game is very straightforward as it is a point-and-click escape game where you are shown visible intractable items, and voice lines indicate progression through the game. The game is very easy to follow and has a unique and interesting take on how it unfolds. I will not go into much detail about the gameplay because I do not want to ruin anything, but I will talk about the first loop of the game. The game plays in loops where you need to collect comic pieces, and each loop unlocks further rooms, items and videos.

The start of the game is when you enter a hallway with various paintings. You play as a woman named Tiger Orchid who voices herself whilst playing through the escape room. It seems like she is playing the game herself and streaming it to an audience, as she refers to ‘chat’ a lot. I quite liked that point of view (a first point of view) because the narration is very interactive, and some of her responses match what I would say when progressing through the story.

The first loop was piecing together the cover of the She Could Fly comic, in which you get to look through a few pages which highlight hotspots that have the documentary videos. I love the voice-over as it does a good job of guiding the player through what needs to be done and gives relatable reactions to the videos she is watched or things she has interacted with. Other loops follow a similar premise but with additional information and more story-plus interactions.

The game features ‘sticky tabs’ next to items/paintings, which brings you to an online website when clicking on more info that allows players to learn much more information about the art displayed and various items. As the game is based around the lens of a person with OCD, I love the addition of being able to sit on the bean bag and relax whilst looking out into the lake. Comic text boxes show up that refer directly to you, which makes it a nice experience. You can hear the sounds of the water, the birds, the crickets that add to the environment. It creates this calming environment that seems to resonate to allow the player to relax their mind before continuing on with the game. 

The game has a lot of charm and does a really good job of being true to its documentary aspect. I do have to say that the soundtrack choice is excellent and vibey. The music that plays on the radio has a soul-like tune to it, which matches the atmosphere of the game, especially because it seems like a girl named Hana’s room. The game introduces the player to interact with items, collect things, and put them together. These can then bring video sequences which let the player learn more about what OCD is through a series of videos. The videos have a speed, pause/play, rewind/forward button that makes it accessible for players to watch it to their liking. It showcases a lot of expert people who talk about their experience with OCD or are experts (sociologists, clinical psychologists) in the field. 

I did feel that there was not much of an escape experience rather than a collection of items and piecing things together with gameplay, but the way they were able to present such intriguing information makes the game worth playing. The game does such a good job in informing the player on what OCD really is because some people may only think that OCD has to do with obsessive organising/cleaning, but through the anecdotes of several self experiences it goes to show how scary it can be for people who have OCD. On top of that, the questions that they ask that guide each video segment help portray and flow information better and can resonate with questions players may have about OCD whilst playing the game. I love that it brought the comic book to life and is not something many other games have done. When playing this game, I had never heard of this comic, but through exploring the documentary game, I became intrigued and wanted to read the comic as I read many snippets through the game.

She Could Fly: Documentary Escape Game is a well-thought-out point-and-click game that is inspired to inform players about what obsessive-compulsive disorder truly is through scientific and anecdotal messages. A unique, absorbing experience, to say the least. I highly recommend that you check out She Could Fly: Documentary Escape Game as for its price, the experience is worth playing out, additionally contributing to a good cause. 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2679650/She_Could_Fly_Documentary_Escape_Game/

https://www.shecouldflygame.com/

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