Essays on Empathy

When talking to Jordi de Paco from Deconstructeam, I was struck by how the studio as a whole has thought about game development in the lead up to the release of Essays on Empathy. In many ways, one should expect that all the openness and generosity the team has previously shown in interviews, is now also on display for the whole world.

For a developer that focuses on narrative design, structure, and experimentation, Deconstructeam got off to a bit of a rocky start but my favorite thing about Essays on Empathy is that there’s a narrative thread that goes through the product as a whole. Though each game is different, has its own story and experiences attached to it, the through thread seems to be a team of people that create art and allow their creative vision to make them better people. Likewise, I feel like I’ve become a better person just in the past week of experiencing these games.

Of the myriad of games released by Devolver Digital over the past few years, Deconstructeam’s The Red Strings Club was one of the few which didn’t click with me. Not because of its intriguing story, but because of its mundane gameplay, to the point I wished the game had just been a visual novel in the first place. I didn’t know what to expect from their next project, Essays on Empathy. The fancy (and somewhat smug) title doesn’t give you any clues on what it is about. The last thing I...

Overall, Essays on Empathy is an intriguing collection. It’s a shame that a few finishing touches weren’t applied to give the overall package the polish it deserves, but there’s no denying that the concepts created by Deconstructeam are seriously impressive. You likely won’t find a collection of games as eclectic as this anywhere else.

Overall, Essays on Empathy is a great look into the lives of different characters and how they fit into the world around them. It may not be the most graphically or mechanically advanced, but that didn’t seem to be the goal of the games anyways. Essays on Empathy gives players a chance to step into the shoes of people different from them and understand them a bit better than before. While some players may struggle with certain subjects tackled in each game, the topics addressed are part of a bigger conversation worth having.