Rainy is a beautiful, black-and-white side scroller. Although this game is short and sweet, it definitely had a story to tell. You play as the father, holding up an umbrella to project your daughter from the rain. Strangely enough, this rain poses an imminent threat on the girl; if she touches it, she dies. But her child-like excitement and curiosity get the best of her though, as she keeps on running towards the only colorful object in this game: a blue flower. To prevent your daughter's demise, you have to destroy these flowers that you approach on your pathway home.
While playing this game, I couldn't help but theorize different meanings behind this story, and the symbolization of the blue flowers. The child could just simply be made out of ink, and that's why she vanishes in the rain. However, I like to speculate a deeper meaning, possibly about the love and hardships between a father/daughter relationship. A father will do everything in his power in order to protect her, even if it kills him. On the opposite end, you could theorize that this father is tired of having to constantly shield and chaperon his daughter when her antics continually put her at risk. But what about the blue flower? Wikipedia says, "A blue flower (German: Blaue Blume)... symbolizes hope and the beauty of things." When the girl was in the park, she didn't immediately run towards the swingset or the slide, like any other child would. She reached for a piece of hope in a dark, bleak, grey world. A beautiful glowing blue light to end her suffering, so her father could suffer for her no longer.
In conclusion, I highly recommend this cute little game. The mechanics are simple, easy, and quick to learn- even if you don't own a controller (WASD, arrow keys, and the space bar). The art style, character design, and monochromatic color scheme is very aesthetically pleasing. The character's silhouettes over the greyscale environment give an effective eerie noir ambiance, immediately setting the tone. I became a lot more intrigued in this story than I expected. I see a lot of potential if the developers decided to build off of this and turn it into a full, story-rich, paid game. I only wish there could've been an English narration that went deeper into the story, and answered my questions. My only suggestion would be to add option settings, so we can choose a preferred language, controller/keyboard selection, etc. Otherwise, I don't have any complaints!
PROS
FREE
Short (15-30min)
Cinematic
Easy controls
Controller and keyboard support
Aesthetically pleasing
CONS
English not supported
No setting options
