The Quiet Things

The Quiet Things is a strong narrative game, with much to say and share. It's a hard game to go through - extremely worthwhile, but it takes a lot out of you, so pace yourself and take breaks as needed. Alice's journey is not a straight-forward one. Players get to experience things from her point of view through dialogue and journal entries, seeing the many adults in positions of power who abuse it, the many failings of the services that are meant to keep kids safe, and the few people who step up to help. As an exploration game, spaces evolve over time, with plenty of voiceover bringing otherwise invisible characters to life (to the point that some voices are genuinely painful to hear - take the store page's content warnings seriously!). I found the game took me on a journey mirroring Alice's. My own frustration mounted alongside hers as she keeps being blamed for things that happen to her, how suspicious I felt meeting someone new who may just be the next person to hurt her, the way everyone said (with utter confidence) that things will get better as if that were a panacea. This wouldn't have worked with a softer or shorter game, with something simplified to deal with just one issue, rather than showing how one difficulty can lead to others - it took the time to show that these complex problems aren't easy to solve. (I realise this is vague, but if the game sounds worthwhile, I do think it's worth checking out yourself!) I appreciated the story being broken up into small pieces, giving you plenty of good points to take a break - it's a long game and some scenes can be very emotionally taxing. I also liked the few times Alice chimes in to add a little context about her feelings at the time. On a practical side, I would recommend playing it on High or above visuals, even if you're on a Steam Deck, as it's hard to make things out otherwise (and the one unintended frustration I had playing this game was spending way too long looking for certain interactables). I also had a little trouble reading the journal entries on Steam Deck, and a few subtitle lines were missing compared to the voiced text, but these weren't terrible issues. [i](Note: I backed this game on Kickstarter)[/i]

Solid story, it is a walking sim and yes there's graphics issues, but the story is worth experiencing. The topics definitely are very serious and dark and can hit hard but need to be spoken of especially in the medium. Only con i'd say is the price is high for the length. $15 is more reasonable of a price. But great story

A simply outstanding game. The writing and the thought that's gone into this game is incredible. Thanks for making such an amazing game that brings empathy to the forefront. Props to the whole team for bringing it together!

The Quiet Things is deeply touching, emotionally raw, and incredibly difficult to experience at times. It deals with severe subject matter, including abuse and major adult themes, so I strongly recommend reading the content warnings and making sure you are emotionally prepared before playing. That said, this game is a master class in showing how abuse can alter the course of a person’s life. It explores the lasting damage with painful honesty, but it also portrays the extraordinary courage it can take to survive, confront the past, and begin reclaiming your life. This is not an easy game, nor is it one I would recommend entering blindly. But for those who are prepared for its subject matter, The Quiet Things is a powerful, compassionate, and unforgettable experience.

The story was so sad, and beautifully told. Even though you don't see physical characters, the dialogue pulls the player through a story everyone should open their mind to. It's a variation of a story so many experience, all over the world. I do recommend it -- below are pros and constructive criticisms: - Pros: -- The story is told very well. I like the use of the journal and voice acting to tell the story, along with memories and walking. I'd say more here, but I don't want to spoil the story. I will say that this story is poignant example of the issues older kids and teens face in the care system, and it's a perspective worth hearing. -- The voice actors did a fantastic job, especially Alice. -- I enjoyed the theme music. - Constructive Criticisms, keeping in mind that this is a smaller team: -- Fatal error when opening the game - While I did finish the game, each time I opened it up (3 sessions), it took up to 10 tries for it to open without a fatal error. Reading the forums, it seems this is happening to multiple people. Hopefully, this is a relatively easy fix. -- Background detail: While the beginning of the game seemed to have more details filled in (picture frames, items in the houses/locations, etc.), as the game progressed, more details were missing and assets were repeatedly used. Picture frames were empty; bulletin boards were empty; rooms and buildings looked the same; the views from the windows weren't always consistent with the game, or were blurred. I'm hoping they fill these details in future updates. These details do help to immerse the player into the story, especially without physical characters. -- Music and sound: While I loved the music overall, there were points where it seemed too quiet. -- Lighting: At the start of the game especially, it was very difficult to see objects when they were picked up. Lighting was also very dark at points during the game. -- Ability to revisit chapters: I would really like to see the ability to revisit the chapters. I'm missing one page in the journal and I want to go back and get it. -- Controls: I did find a few instances where I would be moving VERY fast. This is likely a bug. -- Disappearing Items: I noticed in a few chapters, notable items, [spoiler] like Alice's wolf plush or instruments, [/spoiler] would be missing. Then, they'd be back in the next chapters. -- SPOILER NOTE: [spoiler] While I know this is about Alice and her story, I can't help but wonder what happened to these people that harmed her? Were these men convicted - Does she get justice on that level? Does she ever reunite with her brothers? [/spoiler] -- Accessibility: I could see how some would get motion sick during the gameplay. Also, the text for the journals should have an overlay for those that need clearer print. Overall, I did really enjoy this game and recommend it - Just heed the warnings regarding self-harm and abuse. I would like to see the ability to revisit chapters, and to see the backgrounds be improved and filled in. Essentially, some finessing would rise the game to the level of the story itself. Issues like the fatal error need to be addressed as soon as the team can resolve it. If much of the above are resolved in future updates, I'd revisit this game, no question.

Beautiful. An incredible story, that so many people go through elements of in their lifetimes, but never see it told in its entirety. It helps those who have experienced anything like this, or know anyone who has experienced something like this, feel seen. You feel for Alice. You see exactly how she tried to deal with everything the only ways she knew how to. You just want to help her to be happy throughout. So if you like a story that will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions, this is it! Please support indie devs <3 Extra notes: - Gorgeous menu music - Brilliant voice acting throughout - I think I might declare war on that cigarette, as I spent a good 5 minutes every time trying to pick the bloody thing up :')

Such a beautifully created game, you could tell how much care and thought went into it. its minorly buggy. but i absolutely loved every minute of it. Such a beautful and devasting story.

This was an amazing story that made me so emotional, I had to take regular breaks. It was done so beautifully too. My only issue is the contrast/brightness was not great with no way to adjust in the settings (unless I'm blind)

This is quite the ride... I played the demo some time ago because sadly I can relate to some things described in this narrative adventure. I streamed the entire playthrough in my Twitch Channel and, more than feeling crushed by everything that happens to Alice, we held each other's hands and felt compelled to understant her as much as we could. It was quite te experience. Sometimes it felt like a ton of bricks on our chest, sometimes like that silence understanding of someone who went through similar things even being born in a completely different place. These are stories that MUST be told and rarely are. So congrats and thanks, Alyx, for putting it out there. ---- Now talking about the navigation, there are a lot of subtitles sync problems. Also sometimes the interaction marks wouldn't work, specially in small items and I had to restart the game. Another issue I had was that I had encoding overload while using "Epic" settings and streaming through OBS, which is not supposed to happen in a simple game like this one. I ended up using "High".

game crashes so no longer can play