Critical Play: Play Like a Feminist_Janet

I played Florence, a very beautiful narrative game developed by Mountains and published by Annapurna Interactive. This is actually my second time playing this game. I first played it when it came out in 2018, and I felt I echoed the story a lot more this second time because I can connect the game with some of my past experiences. 

 

Florence tells a very personal feminist story of how Florence Yeoh starts her adult life, meets her crush, starts dating her crush, finds her passion, starts having relationship issues, and finally leaves her crush, and moves on. Players can view all the chapter titles in the “chapters” section on the main menu, which makes the game resemble an interactive storybook (see picture below). Meanwhile, it is also interesting that each section of the chapters is called “acts”, which suggests to the players that they are reading a script and helping Florence with her play by completing the mini puzzles in this game and moving the plot forward. 

 

There are two main storylines in this game: Florence’s pursuit of her passion for drawing, and Florence’s relationship with her ex. Shira Chess discussed the importance of having feminist themes in games. In Florence, both themes align with the feminist ideals that a woman can freely pursue her dream and be independent without support from a male. Another minor feminist storyline is about Florence’s relationship with her mother: they understand each other more as Florence spent more time with her mom in the end. I really appreciate the game’s portrait of the daughter-mother relationship because it is rarely touched upon or discussed in games and media where the mainstream story is largely about Oedipus and the hero’s journey from a male’s perspective.

Another highlight of the game is Florence’s agency in the game, and this agency is shared with players through mini-puzzles. Players go through the ups and downs of Florence’s life with her. Some notable puzzle designs include decorating crafts, adjusting focus, piecing together conversations, pushing someone, and shaking Polaroid photos (see pictures below). 

 

The Polaroid photo one is especially interesting to me because like all the other puzzles, there are no tutorials or instructions on how to interact with the game. However, players have a mental concept of what Polaroid photos are and they know the photos afford the action of shaking, which can help reveal the image on the photo. Moreover, the fact that there are many couple photos in Florence’s photo book adds a sense of sweetness and real-life connection because many people capture and keep photos with their loved ones. 

  -shake->

 

The speech bubble jigsaw puzzle is also very interesting. Over the progression of the story, players can see how the number of jigsaw pieces decreases (indicating Florence is more comfortable talking with her ex) and how the shape of the pieces change to pointy ones in fights (see picture below. These visual details and the overall metaphor that players are helping Florence to piece up her conversations gives players an enormous sense of involvement.

(just started dating)-> (in love)-> (fight)

Yet, ultimately, this game is about Florence and she has the ultimate agency about which direction her story goes. In the chapter “Let Go”, there is an interactive activity where the players cannot do anything and just watch Florence left her ex. While I was playing it, I wanted to do something as a player and kept clicking Florence to let her look up and stop walking. However, to finish this chapter, players cannot do anything and let Florence lead her way and finish her process of “letting go”. 

Finally, Shira Chess mentioned the space for reflection in feminist games. Florence definitely provides a lot of space for personal reflection. When I was playing the game, I thought about my own relationship with my mom, my ex, and my passion. I also like the fact that the game has very little text. This design leaves space for imagination and personal reflection. 

 

As for improvement, my major disappointment about the game is that it is very short (only takes 30 minutes to play) and the puzzles are too easy. I wish the puzzles could reveal more details about Florence and her relationships. One discussion point I have is whether it is a good design decision to have the game mimic the experience of reading a book. In fact, there is an option for “Paper effect” in its settings. When playing the game, I felt like l was reading a picture book, which is a very calm experience. However, I think it raises the question of how Florence is different from an interactive digital book and what makes it a game. Moreover, I’m also wondering what if the game is not beautiful and full of ugly conflicts, anger, and regrets. Female-oriented games are usually associated with peacefulness, and I’d love to challenge that. 

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