"Confessions" is not a game (nor does it claim to be one), it is an interactive platform where people can anonymously write confessions and read those of others. On me, doing so had a very positive effect, but I am also very sure that this project isn't for everyone. This review is meant to help you decide whether it's something for you or not.
First, how does this project work? It's actually pretty simple: You can (but don't have to) write a short confession of something you want to get off your conscience, and submit it. Once you do, it will be gone for you - the text burns to ash in a short animation. It will be stored on the project's server but there is no way to ever trace it back to you, no personal data is stored together with the confession, and even the developer can't tell who wrote a given text. The confession will be signed with the name and location you choose, but these default to "Someone" and "Somewhere", and most writers simply leave them at that.
There is also no way to reply to confessions. So if you consider writing one, you will not receive soothing or encouraging words in response, but there is also no way to send you rejecting, abusive, or hateful ones. You cannot receive support here, but if you want to get something off your conscience and feel that this might do you good already, then you can safely do this here.
The other thing you can do with this program, is to read randomly selected confessions that others have sent. Some of these texts are very dark and potentially disturbing. Some texts refer to deep depression, violence, abuse, hatred, criminal acts, addiction, suicide, and more. Others are about love, insecurity, faithfulness, and even some more banal topics. Some honestly just show self-pity, but I think that's also fine in this context. But most of them look like honest confessions of thoughts or memories that people have, but can't share with anyone. Before you decide to buy this product, I recommend thinking a while about the effect that reading potentially hundreds of such confessions may have on you.
On me, they had a very positive effect. They reminded me that the people around me, even if they don't show it, might have darker parts that they struggle with. They reminded me to be mindful of such things, to not judge harshly if the darkness suddenly finds its way out for a moment, and to be ready to forgive.
However, there's also a chance that someone may simply be shocked by these confessions. Some of us prefer to live in a world where bad thoughts or actions are a distant thing that either does not affect people close to them, or that only happens with "bad people" who are just "messed up" and don't deserve our empathy. If you subscribe to either of these world views, then these confessions might shock you to the point where you feel the need to outright reject them. Or they _could_ be an eye-opener - but in any case, I would regard engaging with this project as risky under these circumstances.
As an attempt to prepare you (if you're very sensitive you should skip this paragraph): The reason why I'm not shocked about people having a dark side, is that I learned that pretty drastically when I was still in my teens, when a classmate who always seemed happy-go-lucky committed suicide, and - unrelated, but soon after - a friend (an always friendly, shy, polite person who cared admirably for their disabled single parent) committed an act so cruel that it dominated local newspapers for weeks. A couple of the confessions that are shown to you, may talk about these things with less vagueness than I'm doing here. Moreover, you may read confessions from people who have tried or done such things, or who harbor thoughts of doing so. If you think that reading such confessions would take your mind to places you don't want to go, then I would suggest stopping right here. (Personally, while I had a tough time coming to terms with the things I talked about above, I know from personal experience that one _can_ arrive at the insight that humans are generally amazing beings even though many of us do struggle with inner demons. But whether that's a road that you want to set foot on, is something only you can decide.)
The other group of people whom I'd recommend to stay away, are people driven by morbid curiosity, who would treat these confessions like a virtual so-called "freak show". I think that would debase the feelings of the people who wrote these confessions. I would hope that the people who read those texts, will approach them with openness and empathy.
But again - if you _can_ approach these confessions with an open mind, and if you're willing to accept that dark thoughts can be part of the human condition, then they may have a positive effect on you, as they had on me.
One more thing that may be useful in the context of this review: There is a similar, more wholesome project on Steam, which is called "Kind Words". In "Kind Words", people can anonymously write about things that trouble them, and receive kind, encouraging, reassuring replies from others. If "Confessions" piques your interest but you think it may be too dark for you, then I wholeheartedly recommend having a look at "Kind Words".
Phew. ;) That was a probably a pretty unusual review, but it's also a pretty unusual project. As usual, comments are welcome. Also, if I somehow spawned a few thoughts that you may want to talk about directly, feel free to send me a friend request. I'm practically always online. Take care! :)
