I actually played a complete game for the first time in ages! 👀 One evening when it was a little late, but not too late, I decided to play something, couldn’t decide what, and just went for the shortest game that was in my unplayed queue: A Mortician’s Tale, which I’d had on my Steam wishlist for a while but ended up getting with the Indie Bundle for Palestine I’d bought earlier in the year.
On the surface, it’s a game in which you work as a mortician, preparing the bodies for funerals per the instructions given, and then going to the funeral to pay your respects. Your name is Charlie and you’ve just started working at a mom & pop funeral home.
However, the game goes far deeper than that, so long as you actually take the time to read all the emails and the second tab of your email screen. It touches on issues that John Oliver actually talked about, with small funeral homes struggling and how big corporate ones are run, the ways funerals and handling of death are changing, cultural differences in the handling of death, and how family can overrule your wishes even in death. There are a lot of little stories throughout the game, in addition to Charlie’s own story as she goes through the gave events. Just enough to give hints and morsels without overloading with excessive side content.
It was indeed a short game, taking just under an hour, but I enjoyed it and I’d recommend giving it a play. My only complaint is there is one “client” where the family wants the deceased wishes ignored and I would have liked the choice to refuse to do what they wanted, though at the same time it is at least sadly realistic of how selfish people can be and the limitations of what you can do other than just have them go somewhere else.
P.S. If the embalming process is freaking horrifying…the game consulted with an actual mortician so it is quite realistic… certainly cemented that I would never want to desecrate a loved ones’ body like that if they don’t specifically request it.