Night in the Woods

Night in the Woods captures the fears and anxieties of being a young adult with surprising clarity, but brings it into new and interesting territory thanks to its developers’ deep understanding of rural America’s economic hardships. Branching, well-written dialogue made me feel closer to Mae’s story as I helped build out her history and reignite friendships, encouraging a second playthrough to uncover the scenes (and even a few secrets) I know I missed.

Night in the Woods delivers an evocative take on the early-20s existential crisis with awkward humor and charming characters.

A witty smalltown adventure with light puzzle-platforming elements that walks the line between nostalgia and nihilism.

A beautiful, heartfelt coming of age story that says something about life, and cracks a few jokes in the process.

Night in the Woods isn't perfect. I'm not perfect. You're not perfect. Life isn't perfect. But as the game itself tries to espouse, if you've got the patience, you may find that there is true beauty in that revelation.

Natural, clever dialogue is the most compelling aspect, mixing black humor, charm, and profound observations

This brilliant patchwork of storytelling, vandalism and melancholic reminiscences at the local mall is set to go down as a millennial classic

‘Night in the Woods’ is great, and a lesson for all game creators in how to develop characters

I started off really not liking it, I grew to completely love it, and I walk away from it with so much love but a wobble of doubt. It's by far the most elaborately graphical piece of interactive fiction, but in being so it suggests it's going to be other things too, and it's hard (certainly at first) to let go of all that, just let it be what it is.

All of this -- the unique pieces that make up Night in the Woods -- goes back to why it's so damn hard to define the game. There isn't an adequate term for titles that blend clunky platforming with choose-you-own-adventure friendship simulators. Nor is there a word to describe games that feature knife-fighting minigames and Guitar Hero-inspired band practices. But, again, maybe that's a big part of Night in the Woods' appeal. It's a confident outsider, and one that takes pleasure is celebrating the weird ways that everything comes together in life.