All the Delicate Duplicates

9 out of 10 crazy sticks (and whatever you do, start with the BackStory).

All The Delicate Duplicates is a soloplay game that defies being placed in a category. It’s available from developers Mez Breeze and Andy Campbell on Steam for $7.99. It’s a short game. Although we enjoyed it on stream in just under an hour, the story didn’t feel wholly resolved at the end. For one thing, most items in the game are only observed and replaced, except for a single zip drive. There are computers everywhere in the game, but I never found a place for it. The game felt like it ended suddenly, leaving me to puzzle out the implications of the story. I spent most of the game trying to identify the relationships between the characters, though no character is ever explicitly visualized. This question was finally answered at the “end.” Much of the story unfolded itself to me after I turned the game off. I found myself returning to the game in my mind again and again, puzzling over it and thinking about the way it made me feel. The exploratory style of the game felt a little like “Gone Home.” The complex emotional power of the game underlies the entire non-linear story but reverberates long after the game is turned off and the player walks away. The game deals with mental health issues, quantum physics, grief and love, and the ties that bind a family. My scores for this game only went up the more I reflected on it. I would absolutely recommend it. Take the time to explore the nooks and crannies of the game world. Read the words painted on the walls and floating through the air, in Mei’s diary, and the computer notes. Together, these paint a story of a beautiful, broken family.

Beautiful short exploration game with great story, if you love walking simulator games this is definitely the game for you 10/10

A short, first person adventure with a strong artistic vibe, and a focus on narrative rather than puzzles. You explore the home of a family who has endured some form a mysterious trauma, which involves some psychological and metaphysical themes. Uncovering the narrative occurs through inspection of objects left lying around the home. One of the novel aspects of this game is the multiple timelines, allowing you to explore the setting and story at different points in time. The somewhat enigmatic story is intriguing and indeed I would have liked to have seen it fleshed out even further. Very much enjoyed the gritty graphical style including textual streams. I took my time and played through the game in about 2 hours, although you could easily complete the game in less than half that time. A thumbs up from me.

Video Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GJiJiAcupg A first-person adventure title that shares a fair amount of DNA with the likes of Firewatch and also Gone Home, All The Delicate Duplicates sees you stepping into the shoes of John, a computer engineer and single dad, who inherits a collection of rather odd objects from a mysterious relative. And that's all I'm really going to say on the subject of the plot. This is a game that really is about piecing things together at your own pace. All The Delicate Duplicates sees you exploring a small, familiar space across several different time periods. It's up to the player to piece together the narrative in whichever order they deem fit, and you are given the power to flit between these time periods at will. If you have a nagging feeling that you missed something, simply hit the 'T' button, and you'll be able to warp as you see fit. All The Delicate Duplicates is refreshing simply because it works the brain in ways that few other games even bother to try. Instead of guiding you through a story like so many games in the first-person adventure genre, it gives players the agency to truly piece things together themselves, in whichever order they choose. It's a delicate balance – omit too much and you potentially lose the interest of the player, whereas if you direct things too much, then your story becomes another linear journey from A to B. For the most part, I think All The Delicate Duplicates gets it right. A fantastic, mind-bending, transmedia tale of time-travel and family, All The Delicate Duplicates is a short but thought-provoking experience that's as engrossing as it is complex. 8.2/10 Full Review: http://fuzzypixels.net/games/reviews/all-the-delicate-duplicates-review/

This is incredible. Kind of a book and kind of a game and definitely worth the money.

Crazy, gorgeous.

8/10.

It is good for the price ($7.99) but I was hoping for more of a longer game rather than something I can beat in a few hours at most even with the multiple endings. The graphics are good and it is pretty creepy at times which is nice. Overall a good game for the price but if it was any higher I wouldnt recommend it due to its extremely short story

This is a walking sim that starts out strange and descends into ball-tripping wierd. It definitely is not a linear experience so you will need to be able to piece together a very fragmented and deeply psychological story. In the end it felt like someone slipped something into my coffee. Run time will vary depending on how much time you spend poking around. I tend to look at everything, so on average I'd say 1/2 hour for a quick run through, to 3 if you really like to take your time. Overall, the story was good, and the characters interesting as you piece together bits of who they are and what they are like. The graphics are not too bad; for $8:79 CDN I can't complain, and the music was good. This is one of the few short games I'll play again. Overall, I quite enjoyed this one.