Are you more than your ex? This seems to be at the heart of the question Penrose, a short but effective psychological horror game for Playdate by Liza Olson. The answer will ultimately be determined by the choices you make as you try to find your way out of the oddly titled city.
Most of the experience Penrose exploratory, and the game plays from start to finish like a scary, emotionally challenging trip down memory lane. There are things that your character might encounter, such as an old playground, that can create hints of passion, while others – a mirror, a locked bedroom door – seem to be associated with more painful events. Things get weirder and weirder when you leave the house you started in and the seemingly abandoned town.
You’ll encounter some creepy objects, not to mention a deeply unsettling mall that somehow leaks (I really appreciated this design in a love-hate way). The names of the stores in that mall are pretty fun too, each a play on a real-life chain like Not Tropic. There are several puzzles Penrose, but the catacombs stand out as the only area of any real difficulty. It tripped me up for a good minute and it made me feel smarter once I figured out how to crack it.
Penrose captures the complex nature of nostalgia beautifully, and the game has many possible endings that play into that complexity. Penrose available on date itching For Playdate and Playdate Simulator on PC, Mac and Linux.
