Good Bones

This game had a very good base but it lost me towards the end. It was too fast, some really important questions were not answered to and the bad ending isn't realistic at all. I know it's a short game, and I love the art style, the music, the vibe, the theme was interesting but it's not enough for me and the endings felt very rushed. It was fun but lost me at the end.

[u][b]Overall Recommended:[/b][/u] ✅ [b]Gameplay[/b]: ❤️❤️🤍 [b]Graphics[/b]: ❤️❤️🤍 [b]Story[/b]: ❤️❤️🤍 [b]Music/Sounds[/b]: ❤️❤️🤍 [b]Bugs[/b]: 🚫 -------------------------------- [b][u]Total:[/u][/b] ❤️❤️❤️🤍 comment: Some items took me too long to find (my own fault), the hint function was extremely vague (noticeable more when stuck on finding a specific item) but not a bad read for a VN more on the simple side.

Quite heavy, but pretty good. Interesting and engaging, and only sometimes annoying. Managed to complete without hints, but it involved just clicking everything I see for a while, in a couple spots.

Unfortunately, this game was not for me. The three main things were: 1. The dialogue does not change, based on what you already got or discovered. You can even [b]spoil one revelation for yourself[/b] if you are like me and click on everything (which, btw, you are encouraged to do throughout the game) - because you will find a thing and thereby unlock a dialogue that is supposed to happen some time later. 2. IMHO, there are too many time sinks in this game, which unfortunately leaves the impression of "making sure the playtime is over 2 hrs. even if the content is not there", like [b]a.[/b] "endless" scrolling through one of the items - perhaps a bug, but due to the story relevance you might miss another clue there, [b]b.[/b] one of the minigames is double the time it might be to still be fun, [b]c.[/b] nearly every room change is accompanied by a dialogue, so that you have to click at least two times to change rooms, and you have to change rooms, like, a lot. 3. There are two minigames that are stressful and do not at all match the pacing of the rest of the game. Dialogue is good, surroundings and character designs are nice. Game has choices that matter and mature themes. If none of the above bothers you, and if you are fine with the trigger warnings, go buy it. :)

Good Bones is a fairly short visual novel with some puzzles along the lines of "find what you need to get past the next gate." The graphics are pretty okay, but as it is a Ren'Py game, that means "static images that change with character emotion," no actual animation. Should be familiar and OK to VN fans, but don't expect much beyond the bare bones. It deals with themes of abuse and murder, and provides an upfront trigger warning about that, which in a way, I think, is maybe even counterproductive; the people who need to be exposed to its subtext may well be people who'd opt out after that warning, and should hear the message. The puzzles are mostly along the lines of "find the things to advance to the next step," which is fine as far as it goes, but there were moments when I found myself frustrated as I attempted to do so; you can see things as you explore that you can't pick up yet because the game hasn't unlocked that puzzle, and you often find yourself backtracking to try to find the thing you need ("I saw that second paintbrush, where the hell was it?"). So there's a lot of clicking on everything in creation in the hope that some random click will give you what you need. Doesn't help that there's no "press space to show hot spots" to help you decide where to click. Still, puzzles are straightforward, and the hint system helps (and though there's no guide, discussion comments can be useful). I liked the subtext, the Latine nature of the characters, the sense of exploring an old house, and the relationship between the girl and her mom, the game's two main characters. And I did find myself emotionally moved at times. As far as I can tell, there isn't a lot of replay value; it seems there's a good ending and a bad ending, but not beyond that (and getting to the good ending isn't hard -- don't be mean to your daughter). And as my playtime will show, it's not a long game; far from me to tell indie developers how to price their game, and I don't regret what I spent, but given a typical playtime, a lower price might be more appropriate. Which only means: If you're on a budget, wait for a sale, but yes, it's worth playing, and wishlist it at least.

GOOD BONES On the one hand: an interesting story setup in a mother-daughter relationship and the grieving process. On the other hand: puzzles that require you to click the environment in PRECISELY the correct order to continue. Some wiggle room for non-sequential puzzle solving would have been nice. Also, the climax involves a scavenger hunt where you can't pick up the items you find until you get the box to put those them in, only the SPECIFIC box you need is the most difficult thing to find! And some of those items are in places that you checked already, but they only appear AFTER you get the box. WHY Also also, the final message about accepting your circumstances and moving on from your grief is good and great but. Hey. Hey that character got murdered and their murder was covered up in an accident and you found the murder weapon and the murderer is still out there and they may know that you know and we're asked to MOVE ON? WHAT The more I think about this game, the more unsatisfied I feel. The unfortunate message that "if you are a victim of domestic violence, the best you can hope for is to have the suspicious circumstances of your death be unremarked upon" is not particularly great. Really bad aftertaste. Still 100%d tho

Love getting to explore and slowly uncover a story.